Curse of the Snake Demons
by Blueyedemoness
Summary: When given the responsibility to take care of a diamondback outlaw Claudia soon finds that she was way in over her head when having this forced upon her. Now she has to go through cults, rituals, the death of her parents and the kidnapping of her little brother with him. In order to save him she will need Jake and the citizens of Mud's help. JakexOc R&R please; Chapter 18 Up!
1. The Talking Rattlesnake

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 1: The Talking Rattlesnake

**Author: **Herp a derp another fan fiction 8D this time for Rango and the badass Rattlesnake Jake… oh how good this will be if I can actually manage to get it DONE.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

Her father, she had to admit, was one of the weirdest people she had ever known in her entire life. Ever since he was a boy he had always been taking odd animals home and showing him to his mother, asking if he could keep them. Most of them were denied though somehow he managed to have a black widow and a wasp at some point as pets. She wasn't sure how her grandmother reacted but she could only imagine that it was shocked, scared out of her wits and/or enraged at her son's actions when she found out about them. But he lived either way considering he had a wife, two sons and a daughter.

So, to Claudia, it wasn't very shocking that her father brought home a rattlesnake he picked up on the road. It was only the second time he had done so but that was because he took it from their yard and put it someplace where it would flourish. This time it was a little different; instead of a misplaced animal the rattler, or a western diamondback rattlesnake to be more precise, was injured. Her father told her it looked like it had been in a fight with some sort of bird and he decided to bring it home and nurse it back to health.

What possessed him to do so she had no idea since the snakes were rather _poisonous_ and posed a threat to her family. But thankfully it seemed to be out cold as her dad put alcohol and stitched its wounds together before putting bandages on it. She, herself, didn't watch what happened but one thing was clear, her father was going to have _her_ look after it. She wasn't sure why though she had to think it was because that since her older brother moved away and was back home in the east she was the next oldest. Cause there was no way in hell they were going to give it to her young, ten-year old brother, he was too immature for this stuff.

"Do I really have to?" Claudia asked, sounding as if she rather not have such responsibility since she had to look after her younger brother. Her blue-grey eyes looked to her parents as her father spoke

"Yes, you are the oldest in this household and because of that you have to watch over him. Me and your mother can't because we have work" he told her. "Besides what else do you have to do for the summer? This is a time for you to learn better responsibility". Of course her father, after she had turned thirteen five years ago, started to make her get responsibility for almost everything she did, it was real bothersome but he was just doing that to prepare her for life.

"I know but… really, a _diamondback rattler_ is to be my responsibility" she said with crossed arms.

"As long as you don't put your hand straight in the tank you'll be fine, I even have some live crickets you can feed him with" he said, pointing to the container of fresh crickets next to the snake's current habitat. It still didn't convince her but she knew her father was stubborn, much like her, and would not back down from his decision.

Thus the days of watching the snake was now her sole responsibility for the long summer break that had only just started. As she looked at it she found it really odd that it was adored with accessories like a black hat, a long belt of fake bullets and a fake gun barrel at the end of its tail. She could only assume that it was someone's pet and that it had gotten loose... she kind of felt sorry for whoever made him wear the stuff.

Despite the noises that were around the house the snake did not stir an inch, it made her wonder if it was dead. But the slow breathing of its body was proof it was alive, just out cold. To help heal it and have it wake up her father put a heating lamp above the cage to give the animal warmth… yet it had not moved ever since it arrived. She was starting to wonder if it was going to be in comatose forever over the days, but that would soon change by the end of the week.

While walking through the house on the fifth day of vacation Claudia went into her room to check on the little serpent that had been knocked out for the entirety of the week. At first everything seemed normal, till she saw, for a split second, a dark tongue flicker out of its mouth. She wasn't sure if she was seeing things so she got closer, making sure she was being as quiet as possible. Unfortunately with her next step the floor creaked, causing the reptile to jerk up and look towards her. His sharp coils bunched up as he looked towards the human as his metal tail rattled, warning her to keep her distance.

She looked into the unnatural fiery eyes it had, causing her to feel uneasy and very intimidated. Despite her being the larger animal she was smart enough to know that diamondbacks were poisonous and one bite could easily kill her. The scowl on its face stayed there as they stared at each other before she started to back away slowly to give the animal some space. When she felt she was far enough she sighed as the rattling started to slow down till it completely stopped.

"Great now it's awake and I'm going to have to feed it…" she said out loud to herself. "It would probably have been best if it slept until my parents came home" she added with her hand on her head as she pondered what to do.

"Awfully _rude_ of you to be talkin' about someone as if they're not in front of you, girl" said a voice with a bit of western accent. She blinked before looking to where the source seemed to be, which was in the cage as the snake was looking at her and flickering his tongue. She looked around to see if there was anyone around who could have been the one who was talking to her, but it was just her and the snake… well her little brother too but he was in the basement. She then looked back to the snake with a questioning look

"Did you just—" she was about to say before being cut off

"Of course it was me! You see anyone else 'round here who'd be talkin' to you?" he asked. The snake had actually moved his mouth and TALKED; this had to be a dream. She momentarily went to her arm and pinched it with her right hand; nope there was pain, this wasn't a dream. Well… this situation just got awkward

"No but… snakes don't normally… talk or at least I've never heard of them talking before" she told him her excuse as she looked away and her two index fingers were pushing together. She could feel that his gaze was telling her he wasn't going to let that cut it and his words went well with his stare.

"That's cause we don't bother talkin' to you humans; you all are too narrow minded for yer own good" he told her. When she looked back at him his eyes were straight onto hers like bees and honey… she couldn't look away. Then she heard metal rotating and a click before his eyes narrowed "Now I suggest you let me out of this damned contraption or so help me I'll send yer soul back to the hell pit it came from!" he said. He showed off his huge fangs to her, telling her not to fuck with him unless she wanted to be dead. Despite this, and the fact that she was scared of this creature (I mean who wouldn't when a snake had a gun for a rattler) she breathed in and looked at him.

"No"

"No? I believe you meant to say YES, woman!" he said with a growl, his gun tail seemingly ready to fire as his voice was coming to a yell.

"I can't" she told him as she tried her best to stay calm despite those hell fire eyes piercing her very being.

"Why _can't_ you exactly?"

"Because of your injuries, idiot" she told him, though she soon regretted calling him an idiot, but she had to go on. "My father found you on the road, unconscious with injuries that were given to you, by his estimate, a huge bird" she continued. "I can't let you out or else those wounds will open, they will get dirty, you'll get infection and you'll DIE". She was pretty sure that he didn't know much about human medicine and how the body works, but if he did he would be smart and just sit there like a good snake. It wasn't going to be as easy as that though

"You don't know _shit_ about my body, woman!" he yelled at her. He was angry at her but also still mad at the fact that damn bird had hurt him that badly. He was going to get his revenge whether he was sick or not

"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure we humans know much about the anatomy of snakes and your kind of snake ain't any different" she told him. She was now scowling at him despite the butterflies in her stomach about looking him in the eyes. "It'll take another few days, maybe a week for you to get better and no matter _what_ you say you're not going anywhere". Well she figured that was that as she waited for the rattle gun to shoot through the glass walls of the container and kill her. She heard the click… but there was no shooting. A click, a click and another click, still there was no shattered glass and she remained unharmed; what was going on?

"Dammit!" the snake cried, making her look finally to see that he was looking at his tail and was trying to get it to load and shoot. She smirked as she realized that he could not shoot her and that she was safe, for now at least as his gun was jammed. He looked at her furiously, probably mad cause he couldn't shoot himself free, and he probably hated that smirk she had on her face.

"Looks like you'll be staying" she told him before he hissed at her

"Don't go thinkin' that just because I can't use my gun I won't be able to get out" he said to her "When that happens I'm going to make sure to give you a long and _painful_ death with my venom" he threatened. He opened his mouth and showed his fangs again as he hissed at her. It did scare her, the thought of him getting out of the cage and killing her, especially since he was in her room, but he had forgotten one thing. He still had injuries and those were not going to bode well if he tried to move too much. Thinking about this Claudia started to walk towards the cage, giving a puzzled look on the snake's face, not sure what she was going to do. She then crouched down to his level

"And how are you going to do that when you can't even move that much?" she asked him calmly. "If I were you, I would just be thankful that the humans didn't just leave or eat me…" when she said that she finally remembered something. '_Should I ask?_' she thought to herself as she looked to the side for a minute before looking back at the snake. His eyes that glowed red and orange looked at her distrusting-ly and with anger; no she was not going to ask him. She rather feed him when he fell asleep again or when her parents got home; besides if she did feed him he'd probably try to bite and kill her. That was when she stood up and turned around, starting to head out the door.

"What's wrong? Ain't you going to feed me?" he asked her with a crooked smile but she was not smiling and didn't even look at him as she slammed the door.

* * *

When Jake had woken up he was surprised to find that the sound waking him was a human female and that she had put him in some blasted cage of some kind. Considering he gets rather moody when he first wakes up he didn't have the patience to hear the human talk about him and not talk back when he could understand every word she was saying. It may have been a mistake but at the time he didn't care, he was too grumpy to think straight and angry at how he let himself get nearly mauled by a bird. But what _really_ got under his skin was that, despite being shaken up by his presence, the human spoke back to him and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. His gun was jammed and he knew he didn't have the strength to get out of the cage and poison her by digging his fangs in her pretty little neck.

"Should've just said no, damn woman" he said to himself after the human slammed the door to the room. Another rumble came to his belly as he frowned, another thing that made him grumpy was being hungry and the sound of crickets next to the container was not helping. The only thing that seemed to override his hunger was the sheer fact that he knew he scared the girl, even when she stood up to him. The thought made him smirk again as he knew no creature _alive_ would not be scared or at least intimidated by his stare, well except for birds of prey. Despite that he got a kick out of knowing that she was frightened of him; that was the best thing about being an outlaw… well other than killing but having everyone scared shitless when seeing you was the next best thing if you couldn't do that.

But with that aside he now had to figure out how the hell to get out… though that was easier said than done considering his wounds. '_Damn bird_' he thought to himself as he grimaced at his wounds, he really was going to have to wait until he got better before he could have his little revenge on the young human woman. Until then he curled his body more and put his head on top of the coils before closing his hellish eyes and getting some sleep, he would need it for the days ahead if that human was going to be as stubborn as she was that day.

* * *

While Jake was left to ponder his thoughts Claudia had her back on the door to her room as she was sitting in front of it. Her heart was pounding and she could feel sweat going down her skin as her nervousness and frightened thoughts ran through her mind. Never before had she felt so threatened in her life, God she wished her father would have just left him to die… okay she didn't wish that but she kind of wished that the snake wasn't as dangerous as he was. She was going to have a hard time sleeping that night… and others because of his threat towards her and the fact that his gun could get un-jammed any second.

"I am going to have to _forbid_ my little brother from going into my room; it's too dangerous" she said to herself as she sat there. She needed to protect him, she was his one and only big sister and she was the oldest sibling in the whole house though he tended not to listen to her anyway. She sighed as she knew telling him will just want him to be in her room even more, but it was better to warn him than to let him just wander in. So she got up from the floor and walked down into the basement where he was playing his Xbox 360 with some game their parents bought him.

"Hey Lil' bro" she called to him, though he seemed that he didn't hear her as he stayed in his chair and played his game. "Brother!" she cried a little louder trying to get his attention

"Yea?" he asked, still not looking at her and being still preoccupied with his video games.

"I have something to tell you" she told him as she watched him shoot a head off of someone. God she wished her parents didn't give him such violent games; he was only ten years old. "Because dad gave me the responsibility to take care of the rattler I have to say you can't go in my room any more" she told him.

"Why?" he asked her as he paused the game and glanced her way "It's in a container right? There's no danger" he told her. She knew he was wrong, especially when that snake had a gun as a rattler and it could be um-jammed eventually.

"I don't care, I _forbid_ you to go into my room, you understand?" she asked him, since she knew he wouldn't listen to her easily. She could see him roll his eyes as he went back to his little game "I mean it, little brother! Don't go into my room _ever_ you got that?" she ordered, though he, again, gave no indication that she was even talking to him. She sighed as she left the basement and went back upstairs and, feeling the pains of hunger, she went to the kitchen to find herself something to eat.

Once she was done she sat there, wondering what to do next as she knew that there was no way for her to play video games since her brother was occupying the basement. The only other place she could find entertainment was in her own room… where that snake was. She didn't want to go back in there in fear he was still awake and that, while trying to do something, he'd keep staring at her with those eyes. She shivered just thinking about it as she looked around to see if there was anything to do. Of course there wasn't since there was not many electronics, save for a Wii and the Xbox down stairs along with a Tv… and then her laptop in her room.

Sighing once again she got up and walked cautiously towards her room, trying to make as less sound as possible as she approached the now "lair" of the snake. She took in a deep breath and then gently grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it before creeping the door a crack and looking inside. Her eyes looked around till she found the glass container and saw the coiled figure of the rattlesnake. As she opened the door more she got a better look though she still couldn't tell if he was awake since his hat was covering his eyes. Looking closer she saw that he was breathing slowly, indicating that he was calm and asleep.

Walking slowly to make sure the floor did not creep she started to approach the cage and the snake. Her breathing became slow and quiet in order not to alert the diamondback of her presence as she got in front of the cage. She slowly crouched down and got a better look at the snake whom was fast asleep, probably tired after the fight he had with the bird. She smile only a little as she thought that it was kind of cute as he slept there in peace and he was relaxed, but that was only when he was sleeping it was a different story when he was awake.

While looking at him the sound of crickets were heard and she looked over to the container of live crickets next to the cage. The snake was asleep now and it was a perfect time to feed him since he was no threat to her at the moment. She started to reach for them before a thought struck her '_What if he hears me open the top of the cage while I try to put them in_' she thought. Damn she should have put them in when he was asleep '_Fuck…_' she mentally added as she tried to think to what to do. If she opened the lid then he might wake up and strike… but she can't just not feed him, he'd starve.

"I hate my life" she whispered softly as she looked to the snake and then to the crickets. Decisions, decisions there were so many choices to choose from and so little time before she was sure he was to awake from his sleep.

* * *

**Author:** OKay okay I KNOW I have used the name "Claudia" a lot but... god dammit I love the name and it's nice to have characters with the name considering how rare it is _ Also I feel like an a** for making another fan fic but... well my obsession almost always gets the better of me xD Anyway this is done thank God and I'm already starting chapter 2 so... see you then I guess xD


	2. Deadly Responsibility

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 2: Deadly Responsibility

**Author: **Next chapter owo;;; hopefully more interactions/monologues with Jake and Claudia x3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

The next time Jake started to come to the soft voice of someone had reached his unseen ears. His heavy eyelids started to open reluctantly as he put his tongue out to check the air, to his surprise he tasted something editable, probably crickets. This caused him only to stir slightly before he started to fully wake up and hear the voice that he had only thought was in his dreams.

_Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light,_

_What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,_

It was a soft and low voice that was obviously female, he didn't know who was singing it but they were pretty decent despite being so low. This caused him to look to the source to find the human female from before sitting on her bed and having a notebook and pencil out.

_Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,_

_O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?_

What was she singing he first thought through his head as he continued to watch with curiosity. How could she be so calm when she was sitting right next to the creature that she was so obviously scared by?

_And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, _

_Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;_

_O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,_

_O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?_

Finally she finished as she continued writing in the notebook she had sitting on her bent legs. Since she was done, it was time for him to make his move and to start it off he chuckled softly, but enough for her to hear him. Her pencil stopped in mid stroke and her heart skipped a beat as she realized that the snake beside her was awake. He noticed this and proceeded onwards

"Never thought you'd be singin' when sittin' next to a creature yer kind fears" he said with a small grin. She didn't look at him but she knew that he was talking about how she was scared of him, and he was right, she just didn't want to admit it to his face.

"Y-you… heard that?" she asked shyly, putting her notebook closer to her face to hide the embarrassed flush of red that was on her cheeks. It was hard enough for her to sing in public, but it caused her to feel so shy when she realizes that someone was listening especially when she was singing to a creature that was bent on killing her.

"O'course, every word that came out of that pretty little mouth of yers" he replied, semi-amused with the look on her face. She shrinked down a little bit more as embarrassment filled her thoughts though wondering what he thought about her singing, she dared not ask though. She also didn't know what to say afterwards, giving the snake time to start moving towards the taste of crickets that, he assumed, she put in the container to feed him.

He slowly moved towards his prey, tongue flickering in and out as he stalked the crickets. Then, in one movement, he caught several and chewed them in his mouth before swallowing. Curious Claudia looked over and watched him eat before returning to her notebook, afraid he'd feel her gaze on him. "Tell me, what kind of song was that?" he asked her, generally curious. It shocked her a little, but not a whole lot

"It-its… our…" she said as her notebook was over her mouth from shyness, mumbling the rest of the sentence. The rattler looked over his shoulder

"What was that? Did you say somethin'?" he asked, giving her a stare that made her choke on her words.

"It-it's our national… anthem" she said a bit louder now, knowing that he didn't appreciate her speaking so low in tone. He gave her a raised brow, not knowing what she meant "Our country… i-it has a national anthem to help raise th-the spirits of the people" she explained. She heard a few more crunches as he ate more of the crickets she put in his glass container in order to feed him. She could tell that he was hungry and she couldn't blame him, he hadn't eaten in, at least, over a week so he probably needed something in his stomach. As he did so she started to write again, trying to get her mind off of him and hoping that maybe he would just be quiet while he ate.

"Kind of stupid if you ask me" he commented as he continued eating

'_Well when you're trying to get the people's hope up for freedom in war it's kind of a smart idea_' she thought to herself as she continued to write. It was comparably slower now that she knew he was awake but she was still writing, trying to look too preoccupied to talk. But he knew better, he could tell by her movements that she was stiff as a board and was frightened by his presence, it made him chuckle darkly.

"You were _so_ talkative earlier; I wonder what happened" he said seemingly to himself though he was intentionally wanting her to hear it. He slowly started to move to the side of the container where he was closest to her, not taking his eyes off of her. She started to get nervous again with the snake so close to her yet he was still in the container. But she was sure no container could hide that hellish glare of his and she really wished he'd stop staring at her.

Looking to her palms Jake saw that her hands were quivering as she tried to hold the pencil steady which gave him all the more satisfaction. It was almost as good as killing her since he was mentally attacking her with fear, but he still wanted to get sweet ol' revenge. But that wasn't going to happen then, no he was going to have to wait to strike, just like if she was a giant prey waiting for him to eat.

"Say, what do you call yerself, human girl?" he suddenly asked, wanting to know her name and give a reason to talk. To hear that quivering voice and the shakiness of her body; he wanted to see it all and more if he could.

"C-Claudia…" she said softly, but loud enough for him to hear so that he wouldn't yell at her to speak up. "Ara… w-what about you? You have a name?" she asked, slightly looking to the side only to get stuck on his eyes.

"People 'round here call me Rattlesnake Jake" he told her as she saw him starting to curl around a toy prop in the cage. His smirk on his face never left and neither did his gaze on her so that she didn't have the chance to look away; he wanted her to see him. "I'm the biggest, baddest outlaw there is in the whole West and there's NO one who doesn't fears my eyes" he continued as he now had his coils around the inanimate figure. "You best remember that 'cause when time comes, these eyes will be the last things yer _ever_ going to see" he said as he then squeezed the object so hard it broke.

He was proud of himself now; he could see the fear in those blue eyes of hers, just like he wanted. Sure he gave himself a bit of pain, but it was worth it; the good way to corner your prey was to get them frightened then they wouldn't be able to think straight. He could see her whole body trembling; scared about what he was going to do to her once he had gotten out of that cage. Her hands tightly held onto her notebook, crinkling the pages as her lips quivered, as if she was trying to say something.

"Th-that is…" she started to say, his eyes trained on her still as he waited for her to speak "If you can get better and get out". God this human was weird, she was still going on about him healing; he thought he just rendered her speechless with fear. Even though she didn't seem very brave she still had the gall to have such a comment to him. It caused him to snort before turning away from her, not wanting to look at her as he was puzzled on why she would care.

The girl seemed to relax a bit since Jake's eyes were not on her anymore, but she couldn't let herself be too relaxed cause she would be caught off guard if he did so again. Her hand started to move again as she continued writing, which was another thing Jake was a bit confused about, what was she writing? A diary? A science report? Hell if he knew, not that he was going to ask at the moment.

"Claudia!" cried a voice that sounded like her little brother as he started to approach the room. A gasp escaped her lips as she realized her brother was getting near the place where danger could come at any moment from Jake. She looked slightly back at the snake who was now looking towards the door with curiosity as his tongue flickered. He had heard her gasp and it made him look to her at the moment before looking at the door. "Hey sis…" he said as he was now right at the door, causing the female to jump off her bed quickly and run towards it. Before opening the door more than an inch she slammed it back closed; this made Jake give a questioning face.

"Jacob what did I tell you about coming into my room?" she cried, cause the snake behind her to blink. She couldn't be serious… her little brother's name was—

"_Sorry_ I kind of forgot about the totally dangerous snake that was in a container with no way of harming me" he said in a sarcastic tone. The girl gritted her teeth as she kept her hands on the door

"He is _very _dangerous little bro, which is why I'm not letting you in!" she told him. For a moment her eyes looked back to the container where Jake was watching her with his hell eyes. She swore she could see him smirking before prying her eyes away and looking towards the door once again.

Of course Jake was smirking, he figured out what was getting the girl all riled up in knots. The boy, who was ironically named Jacob as well, was her younger sibling whom she sounds very protective of. She was scared, scared that he, the diamondback outlaw, would harm her precious younger brother. When their eyes met again he smirked more as he was trying to get across to her that he knew why she wasn't letting him in.

"What do you want anyway?" she asked as she kept her body on the door to keep him from coming in.

"Can I have that game you said you'd let me play?" he asked her "That Legend of Zelda game" he added to be more specific. His older sister sighed at him as she got off the door

"Stay right there, I'll get it" she said as she walked to the other side of Jake's cage to grab something off the white desk. She could feel his gaze on her, but she ignored it as she took the game off the table and walked over to the door and opened it a little to give him the game. "There now leave" she ordered before she closed the door in his face; heart beating for the fact that he almost saw Jake.

"What's wrong? Thinkin' I'm gonna git your precious little brother, I'm gonna _squeeze_ the life outta him?" Jake asked her. For the first time the two of them had met the girl turned her head to him with determination in her eyes instead of fear.

"You better keep your fangs/coils away from him or so help me I'll make you _wish_ that my dad left you to die on the road" she told him with a growl. Her little brother was one of her most precious people on the planet… other than her two best friends that did not come with her on the trip. Jake could see the desperation, not anger, but he did not back down, he knew that the human wouldn't do anything to him; she was just using desperation to look like anger in order to cover up her fear. Jake laughed a little, not threatened at all

"You say that now, but would you really do so if the time ever should appear?" he asked her, as if he meant was he said earlier. She looked at him and he looked back, though she did not say anything "Thought so" he said at last with a hardened glance. He then turned away from her, causing her to feel a little bit easier as she tried to think whether to stay in the room or leave. In the end she decided to go somewhere else in the house. Jake could hear the door to her room open and close as the human left him to ponder his own thoughts

* * *

Dinner that night was about the same almost, well except for the fact that her father asked her if the snake had woken up.

"…" she wasn't sure if she should tell him considering that Jake might end up hurting him since he seemed to be revved up in hurting the rest of her family. "Yea… he's awake and I fed him earlier… before he woke up" she told him, hoping her father would not try and get a look at him.

"Well good, I just hope he'll understand that we're just trying to help him and that we'll put him back in the wild where he belongs" he told her.

'_Yea right not before trying to kill me_' she thought to herself after thinking about all the threats that Jake had given her so far. Right now he wasn't much of a threat as long as she didn't put her hand in his cage while he was awake… but that would be a different story once he was healed. He'd probably be able to get his gun un-jammed… and then she'll be the first one to die since he seemed to be the most hostile towards her. Then again he hadn't encountered anyone else in her family. "That'll be pretty hard to communicate to him" she said to her dad after thinking about Jake.

"I'm sure he'll understand eventually when you don't do anything to harm him and you respect his space" her father said to her. She doubted that but she would just have to feed him when he was sleeping… though she had a feeling he would realize that and start trying to stay awake all the time. She really didn't want to think about it that much and wanted to go to bed, though that was where the problem was in the first place.

A steady yawn rose to her lips as Claudia knew she was getting tired despite the fact it was still early in the evening; around nine o'clock. Despite this she decided to get ready for bed as she headed for the shower and the wrapping herself in a white robe. Now here came the hard part, getting into her room and changing while Jake was in there. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but with the realization that he can talk and understand everything she did and said she felt _highly _uncomfortable changing in front of him. Despite this she walked towards her room slowly as her bare feet went against the new wood floor.

She stood in front of it, shaking slightly as her heart was beating with nervousness as the thought of facing that hell snake again. But she had to do it; she needed to grow up and realize that he can't hurt her no matter what with those injuries and that she still had a few days for peace. Having this piece in mind, even if it was only a small peace of mind, she placed her hand on the knob and turned it as slowly and carefully as possible. When she had the ability to enter she gave the door the tiniest of cracks to look through it and see if he was awake.

Judging by the way he wasn't moving she thought he might have fallen asleep again but a flick of his tongue and slight movements told otherwise. '_Fuck he's still awake_' she thought as she pondered her next move, thankfully she didn't have to think as the move was made for her by someone else.

"Don't you reckon I can tell that yer starin' at me through that doorway?" came the voice from the cage as Jake made no sudden moves as his lips talked. It made her put her head back a bit, embarrassed that he could tell she was looking at him. It's not that she was rude or anything it was just… she felt more comfortable in her room when he wasn't awake. Not that you could blame her he was a poisonous snake and he was an outlaw… and those two were not _good_ combinations. "You gonna come in or what?" he asked cause Claudia to get out of her current thoughts and to remember why she was there in the first place.

Knowing that she had been found out the human opened the door slowly and entered her room. It would be fine if she was just getting regular clothes but she was getting her pajamas which were in her dresser that just so _happened _to have Jake's container on top of. Oh well, she might as well get this over with now than later since it was obvious he wasn't going to go to sleep with her in the same room.

Swiftly she went to her dresser and kneeled down and opened one of the drawers and began to search for some pajamas. She could feel Jake watching her but she ignored it the best she could as she rummaged around like there was no tomorrow. She wasn't sure why he decided but after a while the snake started up a conversation again, but this time about a topic she didn't think he'd care about.

"Tell me, why is it that you were so desperate to keep yer little brother away? What compels you to protect him?" he asked her. She didn't look at him but she did answer

"It's because I love him" she replied "I care about my little brother a lot so I'll do anything to protect him, as well as the rest of my family". She wondered why he was asking and the purpose of the answer he was going to get.

"Love?" he asked with a slight laugh "You gotta be pullin' my rattler" he told her, not really believing that she would protect her brother out of love.

"It's true… don't you have anyone that you love so much that you'd put your life on the line for them?" she asked. This time she looked up at him even with the feeling that he might yell at her with such a question. She wanted to know if he knew the feeling too, the feeling that someone was so precious that he could not afford to lose them no matter what.

"O' course not!" he told her "There ain't anything that I could love so much I'd stake my life on it, NOTHIN'!" his eyes held anger. Though, for some reason, it was hard for her to tell if it was at her or something else.

"Are you saying you've never fallen in love or something?"

"I'll NEVER fall in love is what I'm sayin'" he said before he whispered something "Not ever again". Did she just hear that? It was hard since his voice was so low. But it didn't seem to matter since she finally found her pajamas and proceeded to leave her room to go change in the bathroom. Not before looking back to see that he was not facing her anymore and was facing the back wall to his container instead. For some reason she felt sorry for him… maybe her answer hit a nerve that he had buried long ago.

When she came back into her room with her short sleeve pajamas Jake was still in the position he was in when she had left. She began to feel concerned but there was nothing she could do considering he would probably bite her head off –not literally- about the subject matter. She remained quiet as she went up to her ceiling fan and turned the light off, letting the moonlight from the window next to her bed light up the room. She saw Jake move slightly at the change of the light but didn't do much after that as Claudia went into her bed next to his cage. She took her purple glasses off and put them in the glasses case next to her before darting her eyes to Jake's cage again. His eyes were hidden by his hat but his tongue was still flickering, indicating that he was still awake or at least trying to get to sleep.

She went down into the several blankets in her bed and put her hand on the two pillows that supported her head. Her eyes went to his cage one last time before turning away from him to try and get to sleep.

"…Goodnight Jake" she said softly, though he gave no indication that he had heard her. With that she closed her eyes and let her dreams envelop her mind and try to forget everything that has been happening to her in the last twenty-four hours.

* * *

**Author: **Wow I got this up quick... probably because I liked the interactions and threats between Jake and Claudia. I was also in a patriotic mood considering I started this chapter on the Fourth of July so that's the reason I have my country's national anthem as the song she chose. The reason I had Jake asking and commenting about love is because of a song I plan on having Claudia sing that will fit with it nicely owo;; I won't say what it is cause, hopefully, it'll point itself out in time. Anyway that's all the time I have for today, see you guys next time 8D.


	3. Renewed Understanding

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 3: Renewed Understanding

**Author: **Yay another chapter x3 I really am getting these out fast… maybe it's because I, for once, have had a few of the first chapters already planned than just chapters in the future. Anyways enjoy the story and leave a review based on what you thought~

Also thank you for the people who have reviewed this, it makes me happy to know people like it so much that they comment on it =D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

_Claudia soon found herself sitting out in a desert, much like the one that was outside of the suburbs she currently lived at. It was hot and miserable as she continued to walk for, what seems like, forever in the heat with little to no water. While walking she saw, to her left, a road and hoped that maybe she would be able to find her way home from there. As she approached it she found the road getting larger and larger; too large for a human being. When she had arrived she now realized she was as small as a mouse when facing the road before her. _

"_lost, amiga?" asked a gruff and old voice from next to her_

"_Huh?" she asked as she looked over to see an armadillo with a long white beard and holding a walking stick. Considering this animal was talking to her she didn't find it odd for it to be speaking with her, hell a certain snake was able to speak to her and understand her so why question this logic? "Um I guess… you see I need to get back home but… well I seemed to have shrunk and I'm in the middle of nowhere" she explained._

"_Middle of nowhere? I see a road where cars pass by" he told her, giving her a slightly annoyed face. _

"_Can you at least point me where to go home?" she asked him, hoping that he wasn't a cryptic person as she thought he might be. Though she was pretty good at reading the cryptic stuff… as long as they weren't totally complex._

"_In order to find your way home, amiga, you must first find yourself" he told her with a cryptic sentence. _

"_How do I do that?"_

"_Before you go looking for yourself you must first find people who will aid you in your own quest. They will protect you and help you anyway they can, one in particular will care for you greatly and he, along with others, will aid you in times of trouble that are ahead" he explained to her. He then, with his stick, pointed behind her to the open desert "When in danger, head there and you will come to a town where the people will help you get back on your feet and become your allies. Once there your true journey will begin" he told her._

_Claudia wasn't sure what to make of this or even if she could as she blinked to the old animal before looking to the desert place he was pointing to. While she was looking the armadillo started to turn away from her, causing her to look at him, confused._

"_Where are you going?" she asked him_

"_On my own journey, a journey that requires me and me alone" he simply told her, causing her to blink._

"_Can I get your name?" she asked_

"_Names are not important around here for they lose their importance over time when you can just identify someone by who they are. But if you must call me by something call me Roadkill" he said. He then disappeared before she could even talk to him some more, leaving her alone in the desert to fend for herself. She looked around again before sighing, figuring she should go to this town if she wanted to start whatever journey that Roadkill said she needed to start on. _

_While walking she noticed she walked faster than normal without taking away any of her stamina. It was pretty nice and she felt like she was making some good progress and she was not getting hindered. It was like a breath of fresh air to her until the clouds grew dark, which she didn't mind at all to tell you the truth she loved cloudy days, especially in the desert when those didn't come very often. But soon she started to hear hissing sounds behind her, causing her to look back and see a huge snake, not Jake, but a King Snake started to chase her. Though, oddly enough, the snake was not any of the bright colors it usually was but white with green and blue swirls around the body with blue slit eyes. It was very beautiful, but Claudia had no time to dazzle in its beauty since she was trying to run away from it._

_In what knowledge that was given to her at that moment the snake was very fast and was even starting to catch up with her. This caused her to sprint fast in order to try and outrun the snake and get to the town to get some assistance. Unfortunately that was easier said than done considering it was catching up with her fast. All of a sudden it swiftly came behind her and hissed before she could blink it bit her in the shoulder. _

"_Aaagh!" she cried as the pain went into her back; as if felt like venom, which was odd since King Snakes didn't have venom, sank in it caused her to feel being flamed on the inside. She kept running despite feeling the pain but soon fell to the ground. She didn't want to look behind her but she had no choice as she looked over her shoulder only to see the king snake had disappeared. "S-someone… h-help!" she heaved as she tried to call out for someone to hear her, only to be greeted with silence. Then, out of nowhere, a metal rattling could be heard near her that caused her to freeze in fear. She remembered that sound well and knew only one creature could make such a sound._

_She looked over her shoulder to see the red and orange fire eyes of the hell snake himself. "J-Jake…" she breathed as she looked at him with fear though, for some reason, that fear went away as hope came into her system that he might help her. He gave her a smirk before his body wrapped around her, tightening around her and giving her a hard time breathing. His tongue flickered right in front of her face as her breathing became shallower. The last thing that happened was that her eyes looking into his, remembering those hell pits before blacking out._

* * *

Her blue-grey eyes opened swiftly as she gasped softly after what she had just seen. She had been dreaming, that was true enough, but it seemed like it was more than a dream. She was breathing heavily and was a little hot from the action that was in her head. Despite feeling hot she didn't immediately get up from her bed but, instead, looked over to Jake to see if she might have woken him up. He was curled up now and breathing slowly, indicating he was asleep and she had not woke him up yet.

She then slowly got up and got out of her bed to go to the bathroom in order to relieve herself and cool herself off with water. She looked herself in the mirror to see her messy brown hair from tossing around in her bed every so often. She was still tired though she wondered if she would have another dream with Jake again, hell she wasn't sure if he hurt her in that dream. He just kind of… stared at her, though he did squeeze her… God damn she wished she could have done something else, like use her powers her dreams usually gave her.

She breathed slowly as she tried to calm her nerves and shake the dream off; though to tell you the truth she wasn't even sure she could calm herself; that dream was kind of real-feeling and it made her scared. She had to wonder what Jake would think if he found out he was in her dreams that night. He'd probably laugh and make some comment about how no matter where she was he was always going to be there to frighten her. Looking back in the mirror Claudia shook her head again to shake the thoughts away before going back to her room.

Going back in her room she quietly went through her room and got into her bed before looking over to Jake's container. He was still asleep, which reminded her that she should get the rest of her own shut eye. After going back into a deep sleep a smile appeared on Jake as he saw her awake from a nightmare.

"A nightmare huh? Seems like yer fear for me doesn't just exist in reality, but in yer dreams as well" he commented; chuckling darkly. Even though she didn't know it, the human girl had muttered his name while sleeping, which he heard because he couldn't sleep. That girl had really gotten under his skin with all that love crap that he saw as nonsense. Jake moved a little bit to make himself more comfortable only to grunt in pain because his bandages were getting loose and causing him to hurt more with slight movements. If only that bird didn't attack him then he wouldn't be in this mess.

* * *

Over the next two days it was just the same thing for Claudia, put crickets in Jake's cage while he's sleeping, and avoid him at all costs when he's awake. Unfortunately she was starting to run out of options to do while not in her room and she knew that it was going to be time for him to change his bandages soon since he seemed to be grunting and they were looser than normal. She told her dad about it and he told her that when it was time to change his bandages she would have to knock him out with anesthesia that was in a needle. How the hell she was supposed to do that was beyond her, especially if it was prone to wake Jake up if he happened to be sleeping. Dear lord why couldn't there be pill forms for the drug? Then she could just put it in Jake's food and it would be so much freaking easier.

But nope, life tends to be a bitch and not consider the easier options as she was now forced to get a needle and fill it with the drug to knock Jake out. God she could just see herself get bitten and poisoned because of her father's refusal to go to the doctor and the fact that there were no cars for her to drive. But despite the grunting she was happy to think that while Jake was knocked out he was no threat at all… as long as she didn't put in too much anyway or else she may accidently kill him.

She sighed as she started to make her way to her room with a first aid kit and the syringe filled with anesthesia. While walking she could only be careful not to make too much noise or else she'd wake Jake, who was sleeping in her room before she had left to go and prepare for his changing of bandages. But after a few moments of walking a crash was heard towards the direction of her room, making heart skip at the possible meaning of what was behind it. She put the two things she was holding back on the table and ran for her life towards her room right before she got to the door.

She looked at it and breathed in before taking the handle and opening the door slightly and looked around. She looked inside and saw that everything was normal… well except the container for now it had a big hole in it and no Jake to be found. Her eyes scanned the area before opening the door more to get a better view of the scene. There were a few glass shards and dry grass on the floor along with some splattered blood that lead from the bottom of the dresser up across her bed and through the open window of her room.

"Oh fuck me…" she said to herself as she realized that Jake was gone; he was loose and was probably preparing to kill her and her family. Thankfully it seemed like he went outside instead of trying to get through the house so she knew what she had to do. She gulped once and then turned around and walked through the hallway feeling nervous as hell as she went past the basement. She stopped in the doorway and saw the carpeted stairway twirling down below with the lights on. She could hear the clikity clack of her brother's controller and various noises of death that were featured. She took the door and slowly closed it before turning the lock and locking it tight in case Jake might go into the house.

Claudia sighed again before she started to walk towards the front door and then out in the open. Their vacation house, that is one level that doesn't include the basement, was in the outskirts of the city and almost by itself outside the small suburb that bordered the city. Because of this it would take a while for her to get to the nearest clinic if she so happened to get bitten by Rattelsnake Jake… but there was nothing she could do. Because of this, despite the butterflies now occupying her stomach, she stepped out onto the wooden patio of the house and looked forward to get a sense of her surroundings.

The sun was beating down furiously, not giving any mercy to any living thing that may walk out in the open. She knew it was, at least 95 degrees out there and it probably felt hotter than that because there was no shading anywhere. All that was out there were rocks, small bushes and the small flower garden that was outside the house's walls. There were plenty of places for Jake to hide as he waited for the girl to come out and strike at her and kill her like she remembered him threatening to do many times before. Despite knowing this she finally stepped out of the shaded porch and into the open sun.

* * *

Jake had only been asleep for a few hours that day and that was after he had eaten that crickets that the human, Claudia, had given him for that day. When he woke up again she was gone and he was left again like she had been doing for a few days now. This was good since he could be by himself, like he was used to being out in the wild, and there was quiet. He could think of his schemes on how to get out and how to get revenge on the girl whom, he thought, had put him in a cage and trapped him in an unknown environment.

In fact, that day he felt better than he had been despite the fact that his bandages were getting loose, dirty and they making his wounds feel rawer than they were before. Looking to the cage he knew a good swing would get a good size whole for him to go through if he had something to hit it with. Thankfully he did have something to hit it with; his gun. His rattler gun was metal and would be able to bust through glass easily without much of an effort on his part. Now that he had the strength to do this his flickered his tongue and smiled before he threw all of his weight into his tail and smashed a giant whole out of his prison.

Well aware with the fact that the human was bound to hear him Jake slithered down to the floor, not caring that some of the glass go to his wounds and made him bleed. In fact he could care less as he moved swiftly over the girl's bed and out the window she had conveniently left open for him. When he was out he felt his belly go back on the hot sand that he was so used to before he was attacked. He slithered around to find a good place to hide in order to ambush her when she came out to look for him.

While he waited he looked to his tail and shook it a little bit, trying to see if maybe he could get it un-jammed. Oh would it make his day to be able to riddle the girl's body with bullets and watch her bleed to death. This is why, as he sat in hiding, he was anticipating her stepping out into the sun and not knowing where he was and how he was going to strike at her. And when she finally revealed herself he smirked and chuckled darkly while watching her. She walked around and watched carefully, trying to find where he was though he wasn't sure what she was going to do when/if she found him.

He could see how nervous she was, darting her eyes around trying to find him before he struck. Her constant movement told him that she was edgy, that she felt that if she kept moving she'd be harder to target and get whenever he tried an attack. But he knew exactly how to get her really scared, which made him put his rattle up a little and shake it loud and proud. The moment the sound goes to her ears her whole body froze as she looked around to the source of the sound. He chuckled again as he started to move around her, making it harder to pinpoint where he was.

"So you really did decide to come out, huh?" he asked, making his voice seem all around. "Well what are you gonna do now? Persuade me? Capture me? KILL me?" he asked before laughing at the thought of her doing any of these. "You ain't got the guts to do ANY of them things do you? Yer eyes don't have the gall to confront me face to face" it was true. Instead of determination in her eyes there was straight out fear. The girl had not thought this out well enough and she was going to pay for being ill-prepared.

"Doesn't mean I can't try!" she said desperately, though Jake could not tell on which action she was talking about.

"Try as you must, won't stop me from pullin' the trigger on ya" he told her before lifting his tail and fired. At the same moment Claudia had started to move to the side and the shots missed except for one, the one that grazed her left cheek and caused her eyes to widen considerably once she realized that he was now able to use his gun. He loved the look on her face and the fact his gun was working again it gave him the edge he was so used to having.

Then, for the past ten minutes the human female tried desperately to dodge his attacks with little success. His bullets ripped through her clothes and did give her cuts since; somehow, she was able to dodge a lot by just letting them graze her skin. But she was starting to run out of breath as she started to fumble more and more while starting to get some bad timing on her dodges. Jake smiled as he knew she was just about finished in this little 'game' that they had going. The end was near when the girl back onto a rock and started to fall backwards, signaling Jake to come out of hiding and swiftly move towards her and wrapped his body around her neck before she fell on her back.

When her eyes opened she was staring right at Jake as he had his gun pressing against her forehead. His coils tightened around her neck, causing her to gag though she made no attempts to pry him off, seemingly still in a bit of panic and for the fear that he would bite and poison her if she even tried. This was the first time him and her and actually been touching each other, let alone being so close to one another. Jake chuckled at his triumph of pinning down the human before ending her life

"Looks like yer at the end of the line, any last words before I riddle yer skull with bullets?" he asked her. He was on top of the world right now, about to kill one of the creatures on the higher part of the food chain and the one who has forced him to be in that container for so long.

The girl struggled to breathe considering he was kind of choking her, giving her a good squeeze to make her suffer and struggle for air. At this point she could only talk in a whisper or else she wouldn't get that much air into her lungs. But even with the limited air she was still able to mutter something. "Oh speak UP, I can't hear you very well" he told her, knowing why she couldn't say it loudly and was forcing her to put all of her breath in this last statement he was going to give her.

"Y-you're… w-welcome…" she struggled to stay, causing Jake to stop and ease on his coils grip on her throat. She couldn't be serious, THOSE where her last words? God now he was more confused than ever, what possessed her to say 'you're welcome' to him? He never uttered a 'thank you'.

"What in all the fires of hell are you talkin' about, woman?" he asked, tightening his grip on her again, making her gasp for air once more. "ANSWER ME" he yelled while showing his fangs, demanding an answer as to why she said what she said. The gun at her head pressed harder as he threatened to end her life then and there if she didn't answer him. But before she could a sound was heard, that dreadful sound that Jake knew all too well and caused fear to go into his hellish eyes. A shadow soon went over both him and Claudia, causing them both to look up.

In the air was a big bird flying around in the area the two of them were at; and it wasn't just another big bird, it was a hawk. It was the very same damn bird that caused Jake to get his injuries in the first place and the reason he was there now. Once seeing this creature the rattler quickly let the girl go and slithered under a bush in order to hide from the bird of prey that had come a second time to try and eat him for his next meal.

While this was going on the girl was laying there, stunned for a moment and puzzled at what the hell just happened in those few seconds. At one point Jake was coiling around her neck that were rubbed with scales and loose bandages the next he went slithering off like a coward once seeing the hawk. Jake looked over to her as she sat up, still dumbfounded on what just happened but he hoped that maybe the hawk would see her and either fly off or be a distraction for him. But fate had not planned for that as the swift movement of the air changed as he flicked his tongue and realized what was just about to happen.

He shifted his weight to the side as fast as he could as the hawk swooped down in an attempt to carry him off. Jake barred his fangs and rattled his tail, trying to scare the bird off but it was to no avail. The hawk started to peck at him like he did the first time and the snake was forced to shoot at it. Gun fire went off from the Gatling gun but dodging and shooting was very hard to do even for an outlaw like Rattlesnake Jake. His head turned for only a moment before he realized the human had run off inside the house, he was now alone with the hawk.

Most people would not blame her for running away considering he was about to kill her and now she'd leave him out there to die to protect her own family. Though that didn't mean Jake would like it and, in fact, he was highly irritated it even though he knew that she would do so.

Another screech came as the hawk now attempted to claw at Jake, to get him caught in his feet in order to carry him off and eat him later. The snake would not have it as he shot at the bird, barely missing the wing before a claw came down and slashed at one of the bandages, causing him to bleed once more. It was only a small graze but it still hurt like hell as he grunted before shooting at the bird again. It was only a matter of time, though, before Jake ran out of bullets and that his moves were numbered.

"Hey, stupid bird!" yelled a voice before the bird of prey looked over to see a rock being thrown in its face. The animal screeched as it flew up in the air, giving Jake time to look over to see who had thrown it. To his sheer surprise it was the human girl again, she had come back, but this time with a weapon. A white sheath held a white and blue hilt of a sword that was in her hand. That was why she had gone back inside, to get a weapon and help Jake out in his time of need.

The hawk, now angry at the human, flew right towards her, causing her to thrust her weapon at the bird while still in its protective sheath. She was able to hit it a few times but then the bird made a different movement and was able to dig its claws in her right arm. She yelled in pain but did not yield to switch the weapon to her other hand, get the sword out and let the curved blade land on the bird's chest. Blood was now flying everywhere as the bird screeched louder than it had before, but it did not attack. Instead it knew it was out matched and flew off, going someplace safe to heal itself.

When it left the girl sat down on her porch and tried to catch her breath as she put her sword back in its sheath. Jake could only just sit there and stare at her, dumbfounded that she had just saved his life despite his attempt to kill her. She looked over to him but quickly looked away with an embarrassed blush on her face.

"…Are you alright?" she asked him, still not looking at him; this human surprised him every minute.

"These wounds ain't nothin'. What I want to know is why the hell you did that; why did you save me?" he asked her. He threatened her multiple times, made her his new shooting target and was about to kill her with bullets in her head yet she STILL saved him and asked if he was alright; shit this woman was insane!

"I did it because I wanted to" she told him before she got up, staggering while doing so before going inside. It didn't take long for her to come back out with a first aid kit before she sat down again and looked at him. She then motioned him over

"What the hell are you gettin' at, woman?" Jake asked, suspicious as ever about her, but, oddly enough, she was not scared.

"Come over here and let me treat your wounds, I know you lost some blood and your bandages need to be changed" she replied. He stared at her and she stared at him back; both of them staring as if there were a staring contest taking place. He could see she was not afraid, but genuinely concerned about him. Suddenly he started to move towards her in a cautious mode.

She didn't know what he was going to do and, frankly, he didn't either. He just started moving because he felt that it was the only thing he could do, it was the only thing he could do as he went towards the human female who had just saved his life.

* * *

**Author:** Holy shit it's almost 1 am and I got this baby up... once again I amaze myself just at how fast I got this up owo seriously I'm kind of scared now, I've NEVER gotten my chapters up this fast xD I guess Jake really has changed me... or at least my ideas are so awesome that I can't do anything but write, write, and write xD Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I do thank those who have commented, it makes me happy that you all enjoy this. Next chapter is going to be, mostly, filler since it focus' on, a little, the budding relationship of Claudia and Jake. Tell then see you all next time~


	4. Touching the Cold Heart

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 4: Touching the Cold Heart

**Author: **Again another chapter… my inspiration is really going around ain't it? xD Jake has been stuck in my mind a lot lately… but I guess that's a good thing considering this fan fiction has him in it.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

"Now this is going to sting, so bear with me"

"OW, goddamn it, woman!" Jake cried as the cotton ball with alcohol touched the open flesh of his new wound that was given to him by the hawk. Thankfully it wasn't much, just a scratch that was opened not too deep, but it still stung when it was touched by the alcohol.

"I told you it was going to sting!" Claudia said to him, her eyes looking insecure but still was tending to the rattlesnake's wounds. She was still a bit scared of him but since he wasn't really staring at her it made her more at ease, especially when it seemed like he trusted her now. Despite that, though, she had to be careful, if she angered him she was sure he still wouldn't hesitate to kill her… or at least not much.

"Don't know why you use something that gives you pain when it's applied to wounds" he said as he had one eyes closed while he patiently, as much as he could, let her tend to his wounds. He didn't like it, relying on someone else but he owed her a lot considering that he realized she took care of him because she wanted to and she saved his life. He reckoned that it was the only sensible thing to do, to let her take care of him till he was better before going on his way.

"The sting means that it's working, Jake; it's destroying the bacteria that is in your wound" she explained to him. She wasn't sure how Jake treated his own wounds without medicine but she was trying her best to let him be comfortable while addressing the wounds on his body. "Destroying those will help lessen the odds of infection and then lessen the odds of you getting sick" she added.

Jake 'hmphed' in response, not really caring about the technical stuff of the medicine and only that it would get over with soon. He was pretty hungry so he wasn't in the best of moods at the moment though he wasn't so grumpy he'd snap at her every second. To tell you the truth he was sure he had done enough of that in days before when he treated her cruelly without really dwelling on it too much.

"Alright, it's clean now" she commented as she then, gently, started to wrap the wounds with a fresh bandage before changing the other ones considering they were getting dirty and were loose. When that was over with Jake felt a lot better than he had previously and was more comfortable as well, not that he was going to admit it. Now that she was done it was a little hard to think on what they were going to do next. Claudia knew that Jake didn't want to go back into the container since he seemed to hate confined spaces, made him feel limited on what he could do.

"Good now I can git myself some food in my stomach" Jake commented as he started to slither into the house. He heard the first aid box close before he heard Claudia's voice again

"You want a ride?" she asked, causing him to look over to her and see that her arm was extended towards him. She was wondering if he would want to ride on her so that it could help heal his wounds faster.

"You can't be serious"

"I'm totally serious Jake. You shouldn't be moving all that much with those wounds if you ride on me you don't have to move as much and you can get to places faster" she offered. It was a bargain that was hard to refuse since he could get better faster and get to places in a short amount of time. He looked at her before looking in the house and then back before sighing and turning back towards her. His body slithered up her arm and then moved up onto her shoulders, giving her more weight on her shoulders than she was used to. "See?" she said with a small smile, though she was blushing from shyness and felt fluttering in her stomach; it was going to take a while to get used to this.

For Jake it was weird as well since he was not used in riding something considering he was too big for most modes of transportation. But, he had to admit, he did like the fact he didn't have to slither around as much, it was a nice comfort for however long it'll last. He didn't say anything as Claudia went inside the house and put the first aid back in the cabinet it was stored in. The more she walked the more shy she seemed to get as a blush was almost continually on her face while she moved around. It was probably for the fact that, at any moment, Jake could kill her if he wanted whether it was from venom, strangulation, or just shooting her in the head. But he didn't, instead he just laid on her shoulders with his head on the coils with his hat over his eyes.

When they walked by the basement the human stopped for a moment and began to unlock it. Even though Jake was now out of his cage she was sure he wouldn't harm her brother… or at least she hoped he wouldn't. Besides he couldn't stay down there for long, he'd want to get something to eat sooner or later.

"Hey, woman" the snake started to say, causing her to dart her eyes towards the creature on her shoulder.

"Y-yea?" she asked

"What were you gettin' at, when you said yer last words a few moments ago?" he asked her. She figured he'd ask sooner or later and she wasn't sure if her answer was really that much of an answer at all.

"Well…" she started to say "I guess I said it because I wanted to get across to you that I never meant to harm you. That I just wanted to help you get better before you we took you back home" she told him. Frankly she wasn't exactly sure why she had said it easier other than the fact that she really did want to help him, especially when she though she struck a nerve earlier.

"What kind of excuse is that?" he asked, looking at her, causing her to shrug a little while trying not to make eye contact with him.

"It's just what I was thinking at the time, nothing more" she said quietly "I know it's not much of an excuse"

"Like hell it is" he said with a snort before they had arrived at Claudia's room. Jake perked his head up as he realized that, in the same room, was the live crickets that she had been feeding him with. The sound from his stomach indicated his hunger causing her to giggle and him to look at her

"Sorry" she apologized, not meaning to embarrass him. She, then, avoided the glass shards and dry grass on the floor and sat on her bed, letting Jake down from her shoulders. She grabbed the container, which looked more like a bucket she realized, of crickets and trying to think of the best way to feed him. "This looks like it might be a problem" she said to herself

"Problem? I see no problem, just let me eat to my heart's content" Jake said to her as he slithered around the container.

"I can't just let you do that" she told him, causing him to sharply look at her "If I do the crickets will go everywhere and they'll be all around the house, it'd be a mess!" she told.

"Why do I care? They'd only be temporarily set free" he said to her "It would only be a matter of time before I git 'em" Claudia almost rolled her eyes but refrained from doing so to not anger him.

"Because it's my room and I have enough mess to clean up after you busted through that glass container" she said, motioning to the mess on the floor. "And I'm sure my parents would not like it if there were crickets all around the house" Jake flicked his tongue at the answer.

"Then what are you goin' to do about it?" he asked her which caused her to sit there for a minute. She looked at the cage and though about how it would be easier to feed him in a cage than outside of it. As she pondered Jake sat there, waiting impatiently for her answer

"Well… what if the cage…" she said pointing towards Jake's old container "served as your… dinner hall per se?" she asked, causing him to look at her with an odd look. It probably would have helped if she had worded it better "Well if you go in there, I cover up the hole and then I dump the crickets in and you can feast on them… does that sound alright?" she explained.

"That sounds like the usual way you feed me" he told her "And I'll be back in that damn cage"

"True, but this time, once you've eaten, I'll let you out, besides I won't decide to only put them in while you're sleeping" she looked to Jake, hoping he would be alright with it. He sighed, knowing that he couldn't help it as he looked to her with his eyes

"Alright, fine we'll see how yer suggestion works" he said to her a bit grumpily as he slide towards the cage. In the next few minutes Claudia let Jake in his cage, put something in front of the giant hole and then dumped about twenty crickets into Jake's cage. While the rattler ate his lunch she got a small vacuum and started to clean the mess up on the carpet floor of her room. It didn't take long and when she was done Jake was still crunching the insects in his mouth. She had to wonder if he was getting tired of eating them and started to think if there was anything else she could feed him that he'd like.

For the rest of the day she thought like that, wondering how she could get him something else to show that he could trust her. He seemed really bad with trusting people and she figured it was because of something bad that happened to him before. She'd like to talk to him about it but she was sure he would just change the subject or even yell at her for bringing the subject up.

"And what are you sighin' about?" he asked her as he heard another sigh go through her lips. He was curled up on her bed as she was sitting at her desk on her computer laptop. The girl's heart skipped a beat as she heard Jake talking to her and since she was thinking about him it was something she rather not tell him.

"I-it's nothing" she said as she kept her eyes on the screen and blushing

"Don't you lie to me, girl; them sighs ain't just for nothin'!" he told her. He didn't like being lied to; liars and frauds were the kind of people he hated and couldn't stand.

"It's nothing that concerns you" she said to him even though that was a lie it was a secret she was not going to tell him since it was her problem not his. Jake kept staring at her, not really buying it but decided not to go on since the woman was stubborn, almost as much as he was. "Besides it's time for bed anyway" she told him as she got up and went to get her pajamas. After getting dressed she saw that Jake was still on her bed, not moving from the spot. She blinked "Uh… Jake…" she said quietly, causing one of his eyes to open

"What?" he asked a bit sternly, she flinched a little.

"You're… kind of on my bed" she told him

"Yea what of it?"

"I… kind of need to sleep on it"

"There ain't no way yer getting' me back in that cage if that's what yer insinuatin'" he said to her.

"N-no I wasn't saying that at all… but if you would kindly move somewhere else on the bed so I can sleep on it that would be nice… like the pillows" she explained. She then pointed to the fluffy pillows that she had at the edge of her bed next to the window. "I'm sure it would be more comfortable for you to sleep there while I sleep; I happen to toss and turn when I fall asleep". He looked to her and the pillow and then looked to her again "Please?" she asked him, hoping that he would do as she asked. Despite not liking being told what to do he did owe her so Jake, reluctantly, started to move until he was on the fuzzy, white pillow that laid next to the pillows that supported her head as well.

"Thank you" she said softly as she turned the light out and got into her bed, making sure to move her eye glass case to the other side so that she didn't have to reach over Jake to put them on. When she got under the covers Claudia couldn't help but feel hotter than normal, probably because she now had the diamondback rattler curled up next to her. Though, if you thought about it, since he wasn't going to try and kill her any more it kind of looked like he was now her guard dog. If someone would try and sneak in her room Jake would probably be the first one to strike. "G-g'night" she said softly only to hear a small mumble from next to her before she fell back in the land of dreams.

* * *

Over the next few days Claudia started to get a little used to taking Jake with her everywhere she went. He'd always be on her shoulders wherever she would go and he would always sleep next to her on her bed even though he told her a few times he rather not. If he didn't want to then he didn't have to, but it looked like that was not the case since he continued doing so. He didn't even try to threaten her family… in fact he didn't even talk to any of them other than her, for some odd reason.

He didn't seem to mind her family that much… well except her little brother whom kind of annoyed him to some extent. Of course Claudia knew that he would be annoyed, her younger brother was ten-years-old child who was innocent, to an extent, and was naïve. Despite Jake being annoyed at the child he made no threats towards him and, essentially, left him alone along with the rest of her family.

"Is there any reason why you're reading that stuff?" Jacob asked as he went into his older sister's room to get another game. On the screen of her laptop was a wikia website for a topic known as "Creepypasta". On the dark pages there was white lettering was some story or fact thing about something that he did not care about. While looking down the page there were several pictures of a very _very_ tall man wearing a black suit and a completely white and blank face. Its fingers were long and slender like the rest of its body.

"I-I can't help it okay!" She told him in a bit of a whiny voice, causing Jake to open one eye while sitting on her bed and watching her and her brother.

"Who's that? Slend—" he was about to say when Claudia put her body in front of the screen.

"NO ONE who is important for you to see" she said, with the same fear in her eyes as when she tried to keep him away from Jake who was still bent on killing her. "Now go, it's time for bed" she pointed towards the doorway in which her brother put his hands behind his head and rolled his eyes.

"Yea, yea whatever" he said as he walked, but then he stopped and looked over to Jake who was on the same pillow that he had been sleeping on ever since he got out of that blasted cage. "I guess he's your new guard dog huh?" he asked his sister

"Shut up, leave him alone and go to bed" she told him, causing him to sigh and walk out of the room once again in order to go to his own and sleep. It was also time for her to go to bed as she put her laptop up and got into her pajamas… but something was off with her. She seemed more edgy than usual and was trembling slightly; Jake wondered what was up as she closed the curtains and let the hall light on before she turned the lights off in her own room. She took a huge breath of air before getting under the covers and trying her best to go to sleep.

And for a few hours she did sleep, but the problem really happened when she woke up. Her eyes were open and looked around in the darkness, only having the light from the hallway as a comfort for her. She could hear her heart pounding so loudly she swore Jake was going to wake up from it. Her mind was racing with fear, fear of the creature she read about in the creepypasta before, the thing with no face. This caused her to get up and go to the bathroom before she wet herself only to find out that she STILL couldn't get to sleep. Looking over she saw that Jake was curled up next to her like he always was and breathing slowly.

What she wanted to do was talk with him, to help calm her nerves enough for her to go back to sleep. But she didn't want to disturb him since he tended not to be in the best of moods when suddenly shook awake. So she turned again to have her back to him and tried to sleep again only to realize that her fear was growing more and more as she thought about it. She was starting to get hot under the covers but refused to take them off in case she accidently woke Jake up. Opening her eyes she scanned the room in darkness even when she was afraid of seeing the creature in the story. She then, to her own dismay, looked towards the window which immediately made her heart stop for just a moment. She thought she saw a slender figure in the window though it was clearly a piece of a branch from a bush from outside.

Even with this realization she couldn't help but shake in terror, she really couldn't go to sleep now and there was no way in hell she was going to her parents, she was too old for that stuff.

"What in all the fires of hell is makin' you so restless?" asked Jake's voice who didn't sound like he had just woken up. This was true enough since he couldn't really sleep since Claudia had been restless all night; it bothered him, for some reason. He waited for her to answer, which fist started with her getting onto her back on her bed.

"It's…" she was going to say it was nothing but she knew Jake would hate it if she did since it was clear she was scared out of her wits. "…it's because of that creepypasta I read. It talked about a mythical/supernatural being called Slender Man" she explained. This caused Jake to raise his brow; that was all she was scared of? Some supernatural nonsense that didn't seem to exist.

"That's it? That nonsense is all that's scarin' you?" he asked, almost mockingly since he couldn't believe she'd fall for such crap.

"I-I can't help it!" she told him as he turned to him "I'm a very superstitious person as well as the rest of my father's side of the family. This stuff scares me because I can't help but think that maybe it is true" she added, her eyes rigged with fear. A creak was then heard in the house, causing her heart to jump and her pupils to shrink in fear. "The more you think about him…" she whispered "the more likely he'll come to get you" she was now shivering; scared out of her wits. She wanted to get him off her mind but for some God forsaken reason she couldn't. She looked to Jake, almost pleading him before, in the lowest voice possible said "Please… protect me…" her voice was so low Jake almost didn't hear it if he wasn't so close to her, but he heard her plea as her eyes remained closed.

She really was scared, hell she was even more scared then when she saw him for the first time and he made all of those threats to her. This was probably because not being able to see something can be scarier than seeing the threat in the first place. Jake looked at her before looking up and around to see if anyone was listening before he put his head back down.

"I'm only doin' this _once_" he said before he uncoiled himself and slithered down into Claudia's arms –which were near her body as she tended to sleep in a semi-fetal position- and wrapped around her arms so she could hold him. Automatically she held him lightly, so not to squeeze him, but enough so that she started to feel calmer.

"Thank you…" she said to him as she held him

"Don't mention it" he replied, and he really meant not to mention this, it was too embarrassing if someone ever found out he was doing this. "…G'night" he said lowly and for the first time since they had meet

"Goodnight… Jake" she said as she closed her eyes, now more comfortable with him in her arms. Soon he, too, closed his hellish eyes to finally get some sleep because, for some reason, her being relaxed and calm made him the same way. He wondered why this was but took it out of his mind so that he could get some shut eye as well.

* * *

**Author:** No... No I did not, I did NOT just upload ANOTHER chapter LESS than 24 hours of the last chapter. Okay, this is SERIOUSLY a new record for me; I don't care if this was an off day and I had the whole day to type one up. I don't know how the hell I've been doing this for the last week xD But anyway yes I needed an excuse for Claudia and Jake to... "cuddle" so I used the excuse that she was scared. And to tell you the truth this kind of happened to me once, woke up one night and couldn't go back to sleep cause I was in a creepypasta phase and the Slender Man scared the SHIT out of me. I actually got out of bed and went to one of my dogs for comfort. Tried to get him to sleep in my room but he didn't and I went back by myself. Though, eventually he did sleep in my room and I felt SO much safer cause I knew he would protect me if that supernatural kidnapper ever appeared xD

Anyway that's enough for this last note, I hope you all liked this chapter cause the next one is going to be REAL fun... mostly finally getting the main plot going and all that shiz... so see you all next time~


	5. Saying Goodbye

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 5: Saying Goodbye

**Author: **You know I'm surprised people aren't commenting about how fast I get these up… though I guess there isn't much to say other than "YAY another update 8D" owo;;;

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

When the morning sun rose Jake was the first one to wake up, he may not be able to move much without heat but that didn't mean he couldn't wake up. Of course when he did the first thing he heard was the soft breathing that was next to his head. He almost jumped up and moved away but remembered what had happened last night before looking at the source. Claudia was sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed and a few strands of her dark brown hair in her face. She looked so much better than she had last night and all because he had let her hold him for the rest of the time.

He sighed as now he was wondering if he should have done that little action he did, though the fact that he felt rather warm and comfortable said that he didn't. He really didn't expect to feel warm though then again he was right next to her body so of course he was going to catch some of her body heat. It felt really nice and actually got him to feel a little bit more active and less grumpy that he usually felt.

Feeling that he had gazed at the human's face he decided that it was time for him to move out of her arms. Of course that proved more difficult that it sounded as her arms were tightly around his coils, making it hard for him to slip away. The irritation on his face said everything but he did not make any violent attempt to make her let go. Instead he looked over to her again

"Hey, woman" he whispered, trying to get the girl's attention, though that didn't seem to get it at all. "Woman!" he said a little louder, though that only made her stir a little bit, causing him to sigh. "Dammit wake up!" he said instead, this time prodding her cheek with his rattler, which, finally, seemed to work as she grunted.

"Wha—" she was about to say as she opened her eyes only to meet Jake's red and orange ones.

"Mind letin' me go?" he asked, reminding her that she still had him cradled in her arms from last night's spook.

"Ah right… gomen" she replied with a shy blush as she pulled her arms apart so that he could move again. His body slithered over back on the pillow that he usually slept on, though that was so that the girl could have room to sit up and stretch while letting some of her bones pop. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to get herself to wake up; it was a new day and another one that was added to Jake's resting days. And for the rest of the week it was the same thing, pretty much.

She would feed Jake, go around the house trying to be entertained, and going to bed with him sleeping next to her. It was rather boring, but that was nice because it gave Jake time to recuperate, causing his wounds to heal much faster, and by the end of the week they were almost gone. On the final day Jake slept in her room Claudia had gone out in the yard with a net in hand, she was ready to stalk for his parting gift. Everything was quiet until there was constant thudding on the ground and grunts from the human. He could hear this and opened and eye to look out the window to see that she was falling on the ground.

"What in the hell is she doin'…" he said to himself as he watched her flailing around as if she was trying to catch something. To tell you truth he found it highly amusing, much like the time he saw her swinging her sword around. She looked so concentrated doing it too; he wasn't sure why considering he didn't think they were as useful as guns since guns were able to shoot at a range. But she made the argument that if you run out of bullets you can't fire, which is why a sword is good because he never runs out of metal. Despite that he could only work with guns they were his life and a part of his soul, and he'd never leave them.

At this point both of his eyes were watching and he could only chuckle darkly, seeing this as a source of entertainment for him as the girl failed at whatever she was doing. "Hey woman, you tryin' to dance or somethin'?" He called out from the open window before he laughed. She looked over him with her dirt covered face with a small pouting face

"I-it's none of your business" she told him with an embarrassed look on her face, causing him to smirk. Considering it was his last day with her he might as well humiliate her a little before he got back to his true calling.

"Come now, no need to be embarrassed; yer dancin' is good, I'm sure in a few years you'd be able to outwit a child" her cheeks grew red some more. Wow if he knew it was this easy to get her flustered and embarrassed he would have started doing this a long time ago.

"It's not a dance you ass!" she yelled, not giving him a second thought to it since he didn't find it all that insulting, though he could almost call it cute.

"Then what are you doin'?"

"I said it's none of _yer_ business" she told him, mocking his small accent "Go back to sleeping like you were earlier" she said with puffed cheeks. She then proceeded to go about her business, ignoring anything that Jake may have said after that. He just chuckled again and went back on the pillow to sleep again as the day went by.

When he woke up again he saw that the sun was setting once again and it was about time for him to be heading out. The door opened again, causing him to open one of his hell eyes to see who it was; not surprisingly it was Claudia, who was dirty all over with messy hair. The only thing that wasn't dirty was that crystal pendent that was always around her neck; she never took the blasted thing off. In her hand was a small box with holes in it, Jake looked at it curiously, wondering what it was. Whatever the case it was time for his dinner and final meal before it was time for him to leave. So he did what he usually did and slithered into the cage and saw her block the hole as he awaited for the crickets.

"Close your eyes" she told him causing her to look at him with a questioned look

"Why?"

"Just do it, I want you to close your eyes this time, to try something a little different. I mean this _is_ the last meal you're going to have from here, might as well mix it up right?" she asked. Jake rolled his eyes but decided to humor the human anyway; this was going to be the last time he saw her after all… unless he decided to come back which wasn't likely at all. Once Jake closed his hell eyes he heard the top of the cage open and awaited the familiar sounds of crickets. But, to his surprise, it did not come; instead there was a rummaging, some grunts, squeaks and a few curses. He wondered what the hell was happening but kept his eyes closed

"FINALLY" the girl breathed as she shoved something on the cage's floor and then quickly closed the top. Jake flicked his tongue in and out to get a taste of whatever was in the cage and it wasn't crickets, not it was something else… something bigger, something… with more meat. "Dinners served, you can open your eyes now" she told him as he could hear a smirk come on her face. Those hellish eyes opened swiftly, and immediately he saw what was in the cage, a medium sized desert chipmunk wearing a red and white diamond bandana, black leather jacket and pants and who had tattoos on its arms. It looked irritated, but also nervous, it didn't seem like it was a fan of enclosed areas.

"Where in the hell did you take me, you bitch?" the chipmunk asked in a gangster-like accent. It caused Jake's eye to twitch slightly, but he was happy nonetheless; the human girl actually managed to catch something decent. Without a word he started to slowly stalk towards the other side of the cage, slivering over and behind a rock closer to the creature.

"Are you blind? I took you to my house, idiot" she told him; making as a distraction for Jake as he stalked the creature.

"I swear, slut when I get out of here I'll bite you hand so hard it'll break. And let me tell ya it'll hurt worse than that little nip I did on it earlier" he yelled at her, seemingly gloating in the process. Another twitch came to his brow with another flick of his tongue after hearing the threat and what had happened earlier.

"Please you're too small for doing something like that, I'm ten times your size!" she said, not believing a word he was saying. The rodent scoffed at her

"I'll do it I tell ya! And you know if you weren't so huge…" he started, not even noticing Jake's presence behind "… I'd even add a bonus to ripping those clothes to shreds and give ya a nice deflowering" he said with a sick grin. "And before you say anything I know you're a virgin, I could practically smell it all over ya~" he said with a chuckle. A tinge of irritation pierced Jake's entire being, causing his eyes to slit more tremendously and to rattle his metal rattler and causing the rodent to freeze. He slowly turned around and looked to see Jake's large body overshadowing his own with a very irritated look on his face.

He would have run if not for those soul piercing eyes that caused him to be paralyzed while in eye contact. Jake slowly opened his mouth and bared his fangs that were now filled with venom. Finally, after staring at the snake for so long, the wimpy gangster rodent tried to flee, but only to run into the container's walls. When he looked back that was the moment Jake lunged so quickly that you could barely blink before his fangs were sunk in the rodents brown body. He tried desperately to get away but it was to no avail and after twenty seconds his body was limp and unmoving, showing that he was dead. Claudia never really observed a snake poisoning its prey, but she was pretty sure it took longer than twenty seconds, he must've really jacked up the venom.

While Jake was taking his time swallowing the damn thing the human girl had gotten up and went to wash some of the dirt off of her and to put a fresh band aid on her wound that the chipmunk had given her earlier. When she came back the rodent was fully in Jake's mouth and was slowly going down this esophagus. When she looked at him he looked truly satisfied and happy, it made her relieved that he liked it, even if the catching was unpleasant.

"I'm assuming you enjoyed it?" she asked him; he looked at her after the creature was out of his mouth and he could speak again.

"It was decent, for a human catch" he simply said "But why?"

"Let's just say… it's a parting gift for behaving so well in front of my family… and because I'm sure it would be better for you to travel with a full stomach than an empty one" she explained. "Cause I know those crickets don't exactly fill you up, do they?"

"Of course not" he said as he slowly slithered from out of the container and back onto her bed. "Now I'm goin' to catch a few blinks of shut eye" he told her as he started to curl up.

"Alright, I understand, I'll let you take a nap before we head out" she said as she left the room and shut the door putting a, 'Do Not Disturb' sign on it that she had made for a while to let her little brother know that Jake was not to be disturbed. She sighed to herself as she realized this was the last time she would be doing this since she was taking Jake back to where her father had found him. It made her sad, oddly enough. She guessed that it was because of the few weeks she was with him she had grown attached to him somewhat… though she wondered if he thought the same or just didn't care.

* * *

For an hour and a half Claudia just piddled around, playing video games, writing and taking a shower in order to feel better from the dirt that covered most of her body. She went back into her room quietly in order to get some clothes so she could put them on, since her other ones were really dirty. Before she attempted to get them she looked over to her bed to see that he was still asleep. Unable to resist the urge she went a little bit closer to him and squatted down to see him better. As she thought he looked peaceful and satisfied, almost like the first time she saw him like that except… well he looked a bit happier. She smiled as she saw this, happy that he was comfortable despite the fact this was the last time she'd see him like that.

For only a moment did she stare before getting back up and putting some different clothes on in the bathroom. When she came back Jake was slowly moving and his tongue flickering as he was trying to wake himself up and get moving. She was going to ask if he had a nice nap but though not to say anything in case he snapped at her. He yawned, outstretching his huge fangs while trying to stretch some of his muscles.

"You ready, sleepy head?" she asked him, figuring she had waited long enough for him to wake himself up.

"For the moment" he said as he yawned again before he went over to her and started to go up onto her arm and shoulders. When he was fastened Claudia walked away and out of the house before going to the garage. "What are you doin'?" he asked

"Getting our mode of transportation, my dad bought me a bike not so long ago and it's better than driving" she explained as she got out a mountain bike painted in black and purple colors. "With this I'll get you home in no time… or at least to where we found you" she said with a small smile. There was a tiny hint of sadness in it but it wasn't anything too major as she hopped onto it with little to no trouble despite the extra weight. Soon she was off, pedaling fast, though with not much effort, as she let the wind blow in her face.

For about ten minutes she biked on with Jake on her shoulder trying his best to keep his hat on his head even though it looked like he wasn't even making an effort. Every once in a while he'd look at her before keeping his eyes on the road ahead of them. The place he was left was around debris of some broken container that was similar to his old one except there were more useless knick knacks lying around, like a fake palm tree. After the ten minutes were up there was the debris that he was found next to "Looks like this is it" she said before she got her bike to a stop. Her feet went onto the dry ground and walked past the debris so that Jake didn't have to go over them. She kneeled down and let her arm down in order to let Jake off.

"Guess I'll be on my way then" he said as he looked to her before turning around before he started to slither off.

"J-Jake!" she cried after a moment of shy silence, hoping to get his attention to say one last thing to him. Hearing her voice he stopped and turned his head towards her, his hellish eyes on hers, waiting for her to speak.

"…G-good luck" she said with a slight blush "and… goodbye" she said with a bit of a sad tone. He smiled at her easily flushed face

"Don't need luck where I'm goin'" he told her "All I need is my gun and my skills" which was true since he was good at other things then shooting. He then tipped his head slightly "Now don't go cryin' because yer sad to see me go"

"I-I'm not going to cry!" she cried to him though her nose started to twitch, indicating that she was going to if she didn't stop herself. But there was no way in hell she'd cry in front of him "And w-who would be sad to see a jerk like you go anyway?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Haha, true; no one would cry seein' an outlaw like myself leavin', in fact they'd be celebratin'" he told her with his eyes under his hat. He chuckled a little though it made Claudia sad for some odd reason. Then Jake turned back around and started to slowly slither off "Now git before it gets too dark to see yer hand in front of yer face" she told her.

She was hoping more of a 'goodbye' from him but… well he was an outlaw, his kind did't really do that kind of sappy stuff. Well at least she cared enough to tell him before getting her bike up and getting ready to pedal away. Before she did she looked over and took one last glimpse towards Jake as he slithered off into the distance before she, too, went off back home.

* * *

One day after the departure of Rattlesnake Jake Claudia was sitting in the recliner in the living room and sighing. Life had gone back to the boring one that came with having nothing to do for summer vacation while your family worked.

"Just because it's Monday doesn't mean you have to get depressed about it" Jacob told her as he was fiddling with his handheld console. "Or are you depressed because your guard dog isn't here anymore?" he asked her, making her glare at him.

"He was _not_ my guard dog, brother" she told him "And why would I be sad over him leaving? He was a deadly snake that needed to leave as soon as possible so that he wouldn't harm the family" she used as an excuse. Still that didn't help the fact that she kind of did miss him; he had made her summer exciting for the first three weeks. Her little brother shrugged

"I don't know, you just seem to be a bit attached to him is all considering he was with you every where you went" he told her. It was true, but that was because Jake didn't want to be sitting in one place for too long and he couldn't move much. "And he was always sleeping besides you like he was going to hurt anyone who got near you in your sleep" he added.

Hearing enough about the rattlesnake Claudia got up out of her seat and went towards the front

"Where are you going?" he asked

"Out, going to ride around the neighborhood so I have something to do" she told him before closing the door behind her. She needed to get the snake outlaw out of her mind, and what better way than to go biking around the neighborhood? Apparently, though, it wasn't enough considering every sound she heard while around the neighborhood made her think that Jake may have come back.

"Dammit get a hold of yourself!" she said as she slapped her own face "It's not like he liked you anyway, just found you as entertainment… nothing more" she told herself. Though it still wasn't helping; hell even the city noise didn't make her stop thinking about him, it was driving her crazy! "Maybe a shower will help" perhaps it would, considering she loved the water and it always helped with her headaches.

Turning the bike around Claudia headed home, hoping that some water to the face would help clear her mind of what had been bothering her the whole day. When she arrived she saw that it was already getting dark after spotting the cars that her parents drove. "Oh good, their home" she said with a smile before it disappeared when she realized that there was something off. It was _too _quiet and the lights weren't all the way on. She didn't like the feeling she was getting from the house but she had to go no and see what had happened. Then there was a sound.

Gun shots rang and there were screams that could only match those of her parents from within the place that was supposed to shelter her family from every threat.

* * *

Despite her right foot being badly hurt and her back burning Claudia kept pedaling as fast as she could away from her house. Her sword was on her hip doing its best to stay on to the tattered cargo pants that were on her lower torso. Nothing could bother her right now not even the cold dry air that was touching her exposed skin from the ripping of her shirt. She had to get away, no matter what she had to get away and get help; her little brother's life was hanging in the balance!

Looking back slightly she saw that there was nothing behind her, yet. She had only escaped because of dumb luck and negligence on her part but she had to keep going. It would only be a matter of time til they followed her tire tracks and found her.

Thinking about all these things she had little notice of the road before she ran over a huge rock and the bike fell away and she tumbled to the ground. She coughed away the dust that came into her lungs and used all of her strength to get up. She looked around and her heart stopped as she realized where she was. She was in the same place where she dropped Jake off, still with the pieces of the container and everything. The only thing that was different was the fact that he was absent and there was another creature in his place, and armadillo.

"Greetings, amiga" he said as he looked to her causing her to be shocked at first but then remembered her dream.

"Roadkill?" she asked "What are you doing here?" she asked him, though he only pointed to her left.

"That is not important, what is is that it is time to look for the start of your journey and that is the way you want to go" he told her. God another cryptic speech, though Claudia knew well enough to always heed the words of cryptic speeches since they usually are right. With this thought Claudia slowly got up and tried her best not to get on her bad leg. She looked over to her bike but found it stuck in the ground; the chain broken from the fall.

"Well that's usless" she said to herself before looking to the armadillo "I'm guessing you're not coming with me huh?" she asked as he shook his head.

"No, amiga, I must find my own path to the Spirit of the West. You must find your allies to aid you in your journey and quest" he said; she figured as much. He then started to walk away and she watched him for a moment before running as fast as she could in the direction of the start of her own journey. She did not stop for anything though she did watch her footing as she made her way towards her own destiny. It seemed like she may have lost the people chasing her until she heard running footsteps.

Her heart froze for a moment as she looked behind her to see a man in red robes with a snake and pentagram emblem on the front. His head was adorned with a red veil and a white paper with scribbling all over it; he was heading right towards her. In desperation she started running faster, ignoring the pain in her ankle and trying to find the allies that Roadkill had talked about.

Only for a few minutes as she able to run before she stepped on something wrong and a crack was heard down near her ankle, making her cry a little in pain before falling flat on the ground. She tried crawling away as the figure got closer and closer to her she was starting to get desperate. She looked back at him as he was a few feet away and screamed

"JAKE!" she screamed the first name that popped into her head and did it as loud as she could. She wasn't really relying that Jake would actually hear her and rescue her, what outlaw would do that? Besides the figure was right behind her now, ready to take her away

_Hissss_ was the next sound she heard along with a rattling that was too different and too unique to mistake as another. The man stopped in his tracks and looked over to a rock where the sound was coming from. The nose of a diamondback showed and hissed fiercely and rattled his tail to issue warning to the intruder. The man stood back in fear but in awe as well when he saw the hellfire eyes that came with the creature from the darkness.

"By the Prince of Darkness himself!" he gasped, not sure what to feel for the creature before looking towards Claudia. "May you be judged by the Dark Prince himself and his creatures you foul bitch!" he cried to her while pointing before steadily running off. He may have liked the creature but he was not going to stay and risk getting bitten in the process. That was good because now she was safe… or was she?

"Well well what do we have here?" asked the familiar voice that made her heart jump at hearing. A slithering motion was made around her "Seems like a little soul has lost her way" he continued as he slithered around her till he was partly in front of her face. "Why did you come find me, girl? It's only been one day since I've left ya" he asked her as his face was and expecting one.

"I-I didn't mean to Jake, really!" she told him, he laughed it off

"Really? Then why did you call for me?" he asked her as whipped his back end over to him and had his gun up against her head. "And it better be a damn good reason" he added

"I was being chased! I went as far as I could with my bike and then I had to walk the rest of the way. An old armadillo pointed me in this direction and I just went because I had no place left to go" she explained, though he didn't seem to buy it much. "The only reason I called your name is because I had my little brother on my mind… I-I left him and I felt guilty and you know both of you have the same name" she added.

"You know I always expect a pay whenever I'm called" he told her "And you ain't no different" she looked away a bit sad. She hoped he'd be a bit nicer to her considering what she did for him, then again he _was_ an outlaw. "Get up" he ordered, thinking he'd just point her to the town she was near at and let her leave. She attempted to do so but another crack made her grunt and she fell back down. Her eyes then went big as the pain started to shoot from her foot all the way to her back. Jake saw this and blinked right before she started to curl up in the fetal position

"Oh God it burns!" she cried as she started to squirm while her back started to flame again, like it was burning into her flesh; soon her whole entire body felt like that. "Make it stop. Make it STOP!" she cried again as she rolled around; now he was getting a bit worried.

"The hell is wrong with you woman?" he asked as he watched. She looked to Jake as her vision blackened and she coughed up something liquid. The red made it suggest that it was blood before her eyes rolled back and she blacked out.

* * *

**Author:** Welp another chapter, and YAY PLOT. I'm starting to get into the ideas of my plot which is the first for me xD Though now I'm going to have to watch Rango so that I can write the characters the correct way since they'll be showing up pretty soon. But that's all for now, hope this fan fiction is still going good for you all =3


	6. Allies From Mud

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 6: Allies From Mud

**Author: **Now the plot is underway x3 I'm so excited for all the shit that is going to happen xD Though it will be sad in some parts but that'll only bring Jake and Claudia closer together *w*

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

When consciousness came into her eyes again all Claudia could see was the rushing ground from below her while being dragged. She could feel something tight wrapped around her waist but was too weak to lift her head to see what it was. She was more tired than in pain, but she was greatly sore.

She was able to move her head a bit to see if she could see what it was though her eyes were so heavy that she could barely hold them open. As her hands went against the slick, scale-like surface around her she blacked out again, uncertain where fate was going to take her next.

* * *

Dizziness soon came over her as she started to awaken from the small coma she was under when she blacked out. She didn't know how long she was out but Claudia knew one thing, the lights were too damn bright! She had to shield her eyes until they adjusted to the sudden change from looking into darkness from her eyelids. She wondered if maybe it would have been better to just keep them closed and keep sleeping like nothing had happened.

'_But if I did that nothing would get done and life wouldn't be worth it to live_' she thought to herself as she, reluctantly, sat up, only to get a major pain in her back. "Ow… fuck that hurts" she grunted through her teeth as she tried to move around slowly in order to keep the pain to a minimum. She looked around to see she was in a building of some sort, sitting in a bed that reminded her of her own.

"Where the hell am I?" she asked herself as she scratched her head, not remembering how she got to the room in the first place. While she looked around a familiar rattle came to her ears, making her look down and around to where it was coming from. "J-Jake?" she asked nervously, trying to pin point where he was as she looked to the side of her bed and under it.

"You ain't gonna find me under there, girl" said the familiar western accent of the outlaw. It was right behind her so Claudia sat back up and turned around only be meet with a head much larger than her own and staring at her with those hellfire eyes; her heart stopped beating for a moment.

"HOLY SHI—" she was about to say as she lost her balance on the bed and fell on the other side of the floor. "Fuck that hurts!" she cried, causing a chuckle to come from the, now, enormous Jake before she sat up and put her arms on the bed. "How in all hells did you get so freaking big?" she asked, a bit confused on what had happened while she was out, was she dreaming? He chuckled again at her flushed face

"I think you mean to ask, girl, is how you got so 'freaking small'" he replied, mocking her accent and reaction like how she mocked him a bit earlier.

"S-small?" she asked, confused about the question and wondered what had happened when she was knocked out. But before Jake could say anymore—

"Ah so the little lady has finally woken up, eh?" asked a voice in another western accent that was a little bit stronger than the rattler's. Jake moved his body so that he could reveal the owner of the voice; a green chameleon in a sheriff's outfit. She looked at him and blinked not sure what to think at what she was looking at. He tipped his hat to her "Howdy; the name's Rango and I'm the sheriff o' this town" he told her. "It's pretty odd to see a human like yerself here. Yer lucky that Jacob here was generous enough to bring ya to town" he told her. Immediately Jake turned to Rango with anger in his eyes

"Just cause I respect you _brother_ doesn't give you the right callin' me like you know me!" he said as he flicked his tongue and rattled his tail some. Rango stood back with his hands up

"Sorry Jake, I was just in the zone a bit" he said as he apologized, though Claudia was still sitting there dumbfounded. Jake had saved her? What possessed him to do that? She thought he'd eat her since she was so small or maybe just left her to die. But suddenly the name Jacob clicked as she remembered the sole reason she was there in the first place.

"Oh God Jacob!" she cried as she tried to move across her bed but failed since she put some weight on her bad ankle.

"Woah now little lady, yer not goin' anywhere. Doc says you won't be able to be on that foot for a while now" he told her as he tried to calm her down. She just shook her head

"B-but Jacob, I have to go find help for him" she said, making Rango confused because he thought she was talking about Jake. But both Jake and Claudia knew better

"She's talkin' about her little brother" Jake commented, making Rango look to him

"You both have the same name?" he asked; Jake nodded but didn't say anything else, making Rango wonder how he knew that. But it didn't matter, right now the human girl needed to rest so she could heal "Well that doesn't matter, right now you gotta stay in that there bed and get some rest" he told her.

"How can I when my little brother is out there without his big sister to protect him?" she argued. This was when Jake came in front of her

"Now you listen here, woman!" he started to say, making her sit back out of intimidation. "I didn't just save yer sorry soul just to have you go get yerself hurt and possibly killed" he told her. She was frightened but despite the fact she was scared of being yelled at, she still talked back to him.

"Then why did you?" she asked, causing Jake to sit back some "Why did you save me? You could have left me to die, hell you could have eaten me! But you didn't" she said to him. She wanted an honest answer out of him, but he remained silent, not sure what to say back to her cause he wasn't entirely sure either. Eventually he huffed and irritation seemed to override his features; Claudia didn't like where this was going.

"I don't need to give you an answer you ungrateful woman!" he cried causing a wash of hurt enter her heart. She didn't say she was ungrateful for his deed, she was just wondering why he had saved her was all.

"Now Jake" Rango started but the diamondback snapped at him

"Now _nothin'_" he told him "If she wants to go out and get herself killed then by all means let her!" he looked over to the girl "See if I care comes to find out that she's dead" he lastly said before slithering off angrily.

The room was silent after Jake stormed off in a fit of rage, both were confused at his outburst and weren't sure why he acted like that. Claudia felt especially hurt as her nose tingled, but by God she was going to do her best not to cry, or at least in front of a stranger. When a few moments of awkwardness had passed, Rango coughed in order to relieve the tension.

"Well… that was certainly uncalled for" he said, mostly to himself before looking to the human who had surprise on her face. Then her eyes looked down in a bit of a sad way

"I… I didn't mean to sound ungrateful…" she whispered to herself "I… I'm glad Jake helped me out…" she added. She felt more horrible every minute; she felt like she had made Jake angry because of her own obliviousness.

"Now don't get yer hopes down cause of what Jacob said. I'm sure he didn't mean it" he told her, though she doubted it for some reason. Another silence came by before Rango picked up the conversation once again "By the way, I don't think I've gotten yer name miss" he said

"I-it's Claudia…" she said shyly, not only did she feel bad but now her shyness was there too. She wondered if anything was going to be right today

"Well, Miss Claudia I have to get goin' now; but if you have any troubles, from Jake or otherwise, you just have to come to me and I'll take care of 'em!" he told her. She gave no indication that she understood other than a small nod. He nodded back and, in silence, walked out of the room.

It only took a moment before she let one knee be hugged against her chest and her head went on it. She sobbed quietly as everything seemed to be going to hell at that moment in her life. Her parents were dead, her little brother was with some lunatics that may or may not kill him, and the one creature she thought might be her salvation in this strange town hated her! How could life get any worse than this? Well maybe for the fact that the townspeople might be afraid of her cause she was human.

"God look at yourself, you're eighteen years old and you still get upset and cry when someone yells at you" she said to herself. She was always been sensitive as a child and as a grown woman that hadn't changed except for a fact that it was harder to get her to cry. But all you had to do was yell at her and she would be ready to bawl her eyes out. It was kind of humiliating when you thought about it, which was why if she did get yelled at she would try and hide it till she was alone. She couldn't do anything right now but sit there and mope… she felt like it was just a bad dream and that she would never be able to save her brother.

* * *

Jake slithered off angrily away from the building his current tantrum had erupted from. Why did she have to ask that question? WHY? He didn't even know why he did it himself; he just picked her up in his coils and took her into Mud. Maybe it was because she rescued him when he was hurt and that she took care of him, or maybe he was just getting soft. No that wasn't it, if it was he'd be saving people left and right and there's no way he'd do that. Yet when he thought of saving her, he didn't even hesitate, hell he wouldn't hesitate if he was in that situation again.

'_What's wrong with me? I shouldn't be this concerned about a damned human woman!_' he thought to himself as he was now outside of town next to a rock. He wanted to kill something to get rid of the anger that was inside him, anger towards himself mostly. He couldn't understand why he saved her, and he took that frustration out on her instead. Maybe he should go apologize? He didn't mean to snap at her and she never really said she was ungrateful…

"Fuck it I'm not doin' that" he said to himself as he started to slither away again, back to the place where he was before and where she passed out. He'll go and calm down; maybe kill some stuff to get rid of his frustration. Hopefully it would cause he didn't want to go back into town and just yell at Claudia again, it would just make him even more angry at himself.

* * *

After a while Claudia finally managed to calm herself down enough where she wasn't crying any more. That was a good thing so that no one could see that she had been, that would be just plain embarrassing… that and Jake might get in trouble. God even after crying _because_ of him she still managed to care enough not to tell on his ass. She started to wonder if she was starting to have feelings for him

'_That preposterous… he's a snake and I'm a human, it could never happen!_' she thought to herself. She was now sitting on crossed legs with her hand on her chin thinking and being bored half to death. She could try walking out but that might backfire cause she might hurt herself and then she'd be staying there LONGER. "Now I know how Jake felt" she said to herself realizing just how boring it was to be sitting there and not being able to do anything.

"You know Rattlesnake Jake, miss?" asked a voice causing the girl to look over to see a young mouse in a school uniform. She went back some after she gasped

"Oh God… when the hell did you get there?"

"Just now" she stated "Yer a human aren't ya?" she asked her. Claudia gave her a look, wasn't it kind of obvious?

"Yea… I am" she told her "And who are you?" she asked

"Name's Priscilla stranger and you ain't anything like I thought a human would look like" she told her. "Thought you'd be a lot bigger"

"I was… but for some reason I'm small, like you" she told her, pointing to the child.

"Yer not gonna hurt us are ya?" she asked

"Course not, why would I have any reason to hurt any of you?" she asked her.

"Well we heard that you humans always try to kill us every chance you get. Sometimes you even experiment on us or keep us as pets" she told her. Claudia raised an eyebrow

"We?" she asked before she looked to the door to her room and saw pairs of eyes in the crack. She cocked her head a bit, causing some gasps and muttering from behind the door.

"It's alright everyone, this human ain't gonna hurt no one" Pricilla called causing slight hesitation before the door opened and numerous children came into the room. She blinked as she looked to see the children gather in front of her bed they must've been curious about her.

"Wow a real human!" one of them exclaimed

"Is it true humans eat coal?"

"Do they ride in gas-powered vehicles?"

"Are humans—"

"Alright, alright settle down children" she said as she put her hands out to quiet them down as she smiled. "Let's do this one at a time, I can't answer all your questions at once" she told them. If there was one type of being she didn't shy over it would be children, she just found them to be innocent –for the most part- youths for the future generation. That could be just her maternal instinct kicking in but… well she loved children and she wouldn't mind being in their presence since she didn't shy away from them like she did most people.

For the next few hours she talked to the children about what humans were like and the stories that her people used to talk about in the olden days and even currently. They were all fascinated by it and they thought that it was interesting. Even though a lot of them feared humans it seemed like what Claudia was doing was helping them understand that not all humans were bad.

"What's that there gadget next to ya?" Priscilla asked, pointing to the white and blue katana next to her. Claudia took it out and put it in her lap

"This? This is a weapon made by the eastern country known as Japan" she told them giving them peaked interest. "It's known as a Katana" she added

"Can you show it to us?" one of them asked causing to her pause and think about, wondering if it was alright to show such a dangerous weapon to children. Well as long as they only looked at it she assumed it would be fine; giving her a bit of a mischievous smile

"I don't know… it's a too dangerous to show you kids to tell you the truth" she said, causing them to whine and beg her to show them. The smile only widened "Alright I'll show you all" she said, getting cheers from the kids as she put her hand on the handle. She slid the blade out of its sheath and let it's metal gleam in the light, giving the children awed expressions.

"That looks mighty dangerous could cut up someone up real bad" Priscilla said

"Yea yea! Maybe you could use it to cut up them jerks who are always causing trouble!" exclaimed a desert horned toad. Claudia looked at them with a questioned look

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Bad Bill and his gang, they're always causin' trouble 'round these parts" one of them answered.

"Oh… well I'll do my best to stay out of trouble for right now, I don't want to hurt myself anymore than I have… I have to get better quick so I can go and get to my brother" she told them.

"Yer brother?" she nodded at the question

"Yes my younger brother, I left him to go and find help… now I'm wondering if that was a smart idea. I have to go back and help him… if he's still there anyway" she said. Before another question could be played by another child another person came through the door

"There y'all are" said a female desert iguana with red curly hair "You've been makin' yer parents worried sick disappearin' like that" she said as she lectured the children. They all looked rather guilty

"But… we wanted to see the human" one whined

"Well y'all may want to see her but as you can she needs her rest; now git!" she ordered as she pointed to the door. Most of the children looked down in sadness as they started to walk away; when they were gone the woman looked towards her. "I'm awfully sorry about that, children can't be controlled sometimes" she said

"It's fine, frankly they helped pass the time for me and I got them to understand that not all humans are bad" she told her. She smiled

"Well that's good they weren't doin' no harm to ya, but they should know better than to wander off without permission" she told her. "Names Beans… yer Miss Claudia right?"

"Yea, guess news around here travels fast huh?" she asked

"Yep, in this here town nothin' stays secret too long, in fact I got information on you from Rango; you know the sheriff of this here town" she said, making her blink. "Right now I think he's tryin' to find that rascal Rattlesnake Jake" she said as she folded her arms with a disapproved face.

"Jake? Why would he want to find Jake?" she asked, wondering if it was because of what happened earlier. Beans just shrugged

"Don't know really; frankly I think he's wantin' a death wish just thinkin' 'bout it" she told her. "But what you gonna do? He's the sheriff and he's gotta keep the peace… though I wish he wouldn't do them dangerous things" Claudia looked at her as she rambled a bit. When Beans realized she was just sitting there and listening she put her hand to her mouth. "I'm terribly sorry, I sometimes git to ramblin' and can't stop" she said, Claudia put her hand up.

"It's fine, I'm a really good listener" she said with a shy smile as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm sure you are, but you need some rest now, don't want ya to be tired in the days to come" she told her as she started to go out the door. She stopped and looked back "And thank you fer lookin' after the young'ins they don't mean any harm but any little thing will give 'em interest" she told her.

"You're welcome, I really can't help but like kids anyway" she told her

"Very true… now you have a good night Miss Claudia" Beans lastly said before she headed out of the room. Now Claudia was alone again… though it was about nightfall now so she could sleep and pass the time doing so.

"I hope I get food tomorrow… I'm really hungry from what's happened" she commented to herself as she went under the covers and took her glasses off before trying to get some shut eye.

* * *

**Author:** Wow I was really expecting this to be a sort of short chapter considering I didn't think there would be much to do in it. Welp at least I got it up... and I lied this really ain't a plot thing D= though I guess it's half plot half filler... though I guarantee that the next chapter is gonna be filler... though not fully. It's mostly filler with a little bit of main stream so that the story isn't completely at a standstill. Anyway thanks for reading this chapter and I hope to see you all again next time~


	7. A Bill of Trouble

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 7: A Bill of Trouble

**Author: **Now for the Filler chapter… with a small plot thing owo;;; Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did to write it x3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

Rango headed out of town on his trusty bird steed in order to follow the sliding tracks made by Rattlesnake Jake one day after he had slithered away to blow of some steam. The outlaw really needed to control his temper, if he didn't he'd be killing everything in sight that made him mad… though he didn't kill the human girl. No he just yelled at her and then stormed off; usually when he got mad he attempted to kill the source.

'_Maybe there's something different about her that makes him hesitant to put bullets in her body_' he thought to himself as he rode. The sun was now high in the sky and beating down but that didn't stop the sheriff, he had to calm Jake down and get him back to town. Though one would wonder why the peace keeper of Mud would want the baddest outlaw in the West to come into his town; well unless he needed someone… gone from this world. Well there was a reason he was going after him and it was not to have someone killed.

Actually Rango still hadn't thought of the reason to why Jake should come back to the town. The only thing that seemed to click with him was that human girl the diamondback brought with him. '_But she's the main reason he left so angry_' he thought to himself, trying to figure out this conundrum while riding. It was hard to find something to make the snake _not_ angry, especially when he was already steaming.

A load of bullets fired in Rango's direction, causing his ride to get frightened and knock him off to go and hide someplace. The chameleon sat up from the ground and shook his head to get the dust off before standing up and looking at the direction where the fire came from.

"Mind explainin' what yer doin' here, sheriff?" Jake asked as he showed up in front of him.

"Ah there you are, Jake!" he said nervously as he looked to him "I've been lookin' fer ya" he said. Jake didn't look amused, in fact he looked irritated

"Drop the fake accent sheriff you don't need to try and impress" he told him, making Rango gulp. "Now why did you come lookin' for me?" he asked, shaking his tail slightly and flickering his tongue.

"W-Well… you gotta get back to town, you can't just stay out here and kill everything in sight b-because you're angry!" he told him. Jake moved his head closer to Rango's face

"And just who are you to be orderin' me around? I don't take orders from nobody" he said to him with a glare. "Cause it's either MY way or the HIGHWAY, _brother_" he told him; this was going to be harder than what Rango had planned, but he had to improvise!

"I-I know Jake, and I don't mean to order you around, but we kind of need ya back in town" he told him, Jake's coils went around Rango.

"For WHAT reason?" he asked, he hissed in Rango's face

"W-well… you're the only one who knows anything about M-Miss Claudia and I couldn't help but notice that you two seem really close" he said to him. Jake's eyes narrowed at the mention of the human woman, the very one he was avoiding at the moment cause of his own anger.

"There ain't _anythin' _between me and that human if yer insinuatin'—" he started to say as he started to tighten his grip.

"No no, I wasn't insinuating anything… it's just that since you know her better than the people in town you might be better suited in… watching over her" he told him.

"And WHY would I want to watch over THAT ungrateful woman?" he hissed

"But she wasn't ungrateful for what you did she—" Rango was about to say but he was cut off by a sound in the distance. It was gun shots that were in direction of Mud and that could only mean trouble. Only a few moments later did Beans ride up to the both of them

"Rango, trouble is brewin' in town with Bad Bill and his gang again!" she started to tell him. At this point Jake had let the chameleon go and proceeded to slither away again but slowly.

"Well I'll just have to give 'em a reminder of who the law is 'round here" he said in his fake accent again. Beans shook her head

"It's not that simple! He's goin' after Miss Claudia; you know cause she's a human and all" she explained. This made Jake stop in his tracks as anger went all through him, but this time it was not because of Claudia, but at Bill and the fact that the gun shots may have even _attempted _to hurt her. In another second he turned around and moved as fast as he could towards Mud, leaving Rango and Beans behind.

"Well… _that_ got him to return now didn't it?" he asked as he quickly went over to his hiding steed and saddled himself. "Let's go Beans, can't have Jake go by himself as he's liable to kill Bill and his gang for even tryin' to lay a finger on the human girl" he told her as he rode after Jake with Beans following soon after. To Rango this was the ultimate evidence that Jake did, at least somewhat, care for the human girl or else he wouldn't have went off as quickly as he did. He may seem like he didn't care about anyone but himself but… well whatever happened between him and the human seemed to change him a little. Not much but enough so to realize that she was someone he wasn't willing to lose.

"I don't think I've ever seen Rattlesnake Jake this worked up" Beans said as she rode alongside Rango.

"Well Beans, I think our big outlaw here is not telling how he really feels about Miss Claudia, which is fine it's his business, not ours" he started to say. "But it is pretty interestin' to see that he is not even hesitatin' to go and help her out, don't ya think?" he asked her.

* * *

Earlier that day, Claudia was able to eat something decent –though she wasn't entirely sure what it was- and felt a lot better in the process. Even though it had only been a day since she was in the building but she wanted to get up and move around. She put her bandaged foot on the ground and tested it a bit, getting a creak from her bone that indicated that it was not totally safe to put all of her weight on it. Also it felt a little swollen and sore but as long as she was on her tiptoes and not using the bottom it seemed fine.

But before she could even _think _of going outside or just moving around she took a look at the clothes she was wearing. Her shirt that was white and covered with grey streaks was ripped at the ends with a big tear near her mid back and her sleeves were even worse with blood stains on them. She sighed since this was one of her favorite shirts… though even with the blue griffon inside a shield emblem almost taking up most of her chest area and with a bigger blue pictures on the back that were using the same symbol she wondered if she should have worn it when she left. It was kind of stupid but… well it was the first shirt she was able to find.

Though to tell you the truth her pants weren't that much better. The black and white cargo pants were also ripped at the ends and had blood stands around the shreds. She couldn't go out in what she was currently wearing, it was totally a mess… that and it would make her look like a slob. Unfortunately for her there was nothing that could tie her shirt up to make the shreds disappear so she had to improvise. With her katana blade out and made the rip in the back of her shirt longer till it was almost cut in half. After that she tied the two ends together, making sure the shreds were either ripped off or went into the tying of the two ends.

With her sleeves she just ripped the shreds off in order to make it stop bothering her… for some reason she just couldn't help but try to rip off shreds. She also did the same with her pants… with the help of her sword of course and caused the Capri cargo pants to become shorts that ended a little bit over her thigh. After getting her clothes to look a little bit… nicer Claudia was able to find her shoes and socks and put them on.

"You goin' somewhere Ms. Claudia?" asked a voice that was from the cactus mouse, Priscilla. The young woman looked towards the young child

"Well I can't just stay here all day, I need to get up and look around. Besides it's boring when you have nothing to do" she told her as she tied her shoes.

"Is it alright if we come with you?" she asked. When she said we Claudia almost immediately knew that she meant the other children. She thought about it only for a moment before looking to her and seeing those big yellow eyes. God dammit she was really cute!

"Sure, I guess it's no harm in letting you all coming with me, besides I really don't know my way around here" she said with a nervous laugh. "But before you all do, you should ask permission from your parents—"

"No need fer that Ms. Claudia all our parents are at work right now so we have to have somethin' to do" she told her. She looked at her with a suspicious look but that soon passed as those eyes were just something she couldn't resist. To tell you the truth they almost worked like Jake's eyes… though his were supposed to intimidate the person, not woo them over.

"Alright but you all can't blame me if you all get in trouble" she told her with a bit of a smile. She wondered what kind of town this would be… though she had to say if it was anything like how everyone she saw was wearing then it was probably old western. Though that did seem frighteningly obvious with the wooden building she was in and how Jake and everyone else was dressed.

The last thing she did was fasten her katana on her pants, but in order not to spook the locals or intimidate someone she attacked it to the back of her pants to hide it better. She then, with Priscilla and with other children, toured around the town, that she now knew whose name was Mud, and spent some time with them. Along with getting to know and getting along with the children Claudia was able to learn about the town itself as well.

"You know, this town used to have a mayor" one of them said, causing the human to look at them.

"Really? It's kind of odd to see a town without one" she said "What happened?" she asked.

"Rango is what happened!"

"Y-yeah! Sheriff Rango came to this here town and started to-to inve… investigatin'! You see the water here wasn't too much and we were runnin' out. So the Sheriff helped look for it" said the young man that was called Waffles.

"Come to find out it was our mayor all along that was holdin' the water back from us" Priscilla said. "He even called on Rattlesnake Jake to humiliate and get rid of our sheriff, but he came back and dueled the outlaw till he had to face the mayor himself. In the end the mayor betrayed Jake and was taken away by Jake, probably to get eaten" she explained. Wow Claudia didn't know Jake had a history with this town… though she had to guess that how he and Rango talked to each other it wasn't very surprising.

"By the way… do you guys know why Jake refers to Rango as 'brother'?" she asked.

"It's cause o' his respect for him. Since Sheriff Rango saved his life from the mayor he gave a tip o' the hat to him as he recognized the sheriff a legend like himself" a child told her.

"That is quite an honor to be respected by an outlaw like Jake huh?" she asked

"Mhmm, especially since Rattlesnake Jake is known as the Grim Reaper 'round these parts" he was? Claudia never really knew he was known as Death himself. He never said anything about who he was known for, though she guessed it was fine. Still she was surprised that he had not gloated to her about it beforehand, like when he was bent on killing her that first week and a half.

"Well, well what do we 'ave 'ere?" asked a, strangely, Australian-like accent as a gila monster revealed himself along with a rabbit, jackrabbit and a rat.

'_Oh great_' Claudia thought to herself as she knew they were trouble just by their appearance.

"Who would've thought we'd see a 'uman in our little town, right boys?" he asked, getting some agreements from his lackeys. Who was this guy? Something in her gut said it was the trouble-maker the children had talked about the day before.

"I-it's Bad B-Bill" one of the children muttered as they shook with fear… well except for Priscilla and Waffles who seemed both non-threatened and confident. Despite that the human female kept the children behind her, in order to protect them from harm. It looked like they were after her but… well she rather not have them taken hostage or something.

"What do you want?" she asked, though that was kind of obvious… still she asked anyway.

"Oh it ain' much love; just little wee bit of yer time is all" he said, causing his little lackeys to giggle with delight. There was no way in hell that she was going to buy that, but what could she do but agree? If she didn't the scene might get ugly and the children were right there.

"Hm, well I don't think so, I was told that I shouldn't talk to strangers" she told him with crossed arms.

"I don't think you 'ave a choice, love. A lot o' us 'ere don't like yer kind and this may be the only chance we 'ave to teach ya a lesson" he told her. Well she expected this, humans weren't always the nicest of creatures and a lot of them didn't care for most animals other than themselves. But now, because of her race, she was going against some thugs that were notorious for causing trouble.

"Kids, leave" she whispered, ordering them to get away before things became ugly and they got hurt. "_Now_" she ordered again as she waved her hands away, causing them to start backing up and moving away. She was ready to move, though she would have to be careful since she couldn't land on her bad ankle. She could see his hand near his waist, where one of the guns he owned was on his belt.

"D-do yer best, M-miss Claudia. Chop 'em up good w-with yer katana!" Waffles exclaimed lowly before he, and the other children ran off to leave her alone with the badies. The wind blew, causing her hair to blow in the wind, wondering what she should do now. Suddenly his hand twitched near the gun handle; causing her eyes to intense a bit before she decided now or never to make a move. She did her best to sprint towards the town's alley ways, causing Bill to fire his gun towards her running figure. Thankfully she was able to get away from them and ran through the town while Bill ordered his men to go after her.

While they chased the human the children had left to go find the sheriff, only to find Beans there. She was making sure that everything was neat instead of a pigsty while they came in.

"Ms. Beans, where's Sheriff Rango? We need his help right away?" one of them asked

"He's out doin' an errand right now, what's wrong? What's with the gun shots?" she asked. She was worried and about to come out to see what was happening

"It's Bad Bill again, he's goin' after the human!" they told her, causing her to look shocked.

"Oh no, she's not goin' to survive long with that bad ankle of hers and Bad Bill and his gang goin' after her" she said as she started to head towards the back. "You children stay in here and don't come out, ya here? I'll go and get Sheriff Rango and help resolve this situation" she told them. Then she ran out, got on one of the many bird steeds and rode off to fetch Rango.

While that happened Claudia kept running through the streets, though the thumping from either the jackrabbit or the rabbit coming up on her tail. She looked over and jumped up onto a roof of a building and walking across the other side. Another gun fired and nearly missed her as she continued down the building and back onto the ground to run off. She started to fiddle with the katana on her pants and to detach it though right when she done so the rat appeared in front of her. Her right hand stayed on the katana's hilt as she kept forward, doing her best to dodge the bullets the rat fired at her. One hit the side of her legs, creating a gash and her grunting but she still managed to keep going and hit him in the stomach with the katana's hilt as hard as she could.

For a few more minutes she kept running off while trying to think how to either lose them or maybe managed to defeat them. Whatever it may be, she needed to think of it fast, because she was running out of places to run.

* * *

Jake has slithered as fast as he could back to town, ignoring the burn on his belly as he was now just concerned on the human girl's safety. God he couldn't even leave her for a _day_ and she gets in trouble, though it may not be her fault since Bad Bill always gave trouble for the town. He could hear the padding of feet from the steeds that Rango and Beans were riding on but ignored them.

He entered the town, hearing gun shots once again he turned his head and slithered towards the racket. Rango soon followed as Beans went back to the sheriff's building to check on the children while the actual sheriff went after Jake to make sure he didn't kill Bill and his gang. When they had caught up with them they were inside a building with the jackrabbit was holding her, both of her hands were behind her back while Bill and the rabbit were in front of her.

"Looks like it's the end o' the line, sweetheart. You already knocked out one of my men, not gonna let ya try any more funny business" Bill said as the rabbit started to giggle as a knife was seen in his hands. Her eyes were that of determination, though as Jake watched he didn't make a move, he waited as Rango came up.

"Oh there you are Jake, is the human girl inside?" he asked, causing Jake to slightly nod. "Oh, then let's go help her!" he said as he started to move, but Jake's coils wrapped around him.

"No… we wait" he told him, causing him to look through the small hole in the building to watch the scene in front of them. As the rabbit walked towards her she seemed to be concentrated, waiting for the next moment until she made her move. When the rabbit was close enough she kept her, now exposed, katana in her right hand and the hilt in her left. At that moment she positioned the blade the best she could diagonally before swiftly using her wrist to lift if up and slicing the shoulder of the person holding her. The jackrabbit cried in pain before she elbowed him in the chest, knocking him out. Her eyes were wide and then a small smile came on her face, a sadistic smile. She then turned her head towards the rabbit and charged, having their blades clash with one another till she was able to stab his hand before punching his face.

"Ya little bitch!" Bill shouted as he got his gun out and started shooting. She was able to dodge at the last second, but a bullet hit the side of her cheek, giving her a scratch. Jake's eyes hardened, not liking the fact that Bill just hurt her, but he stayed where he was as he knew that something new was coming over her, something he hadn't seen before. He saw her head towards Bill clenching the hilt of her katana that was now pulsing within her palm. She wasn't sure how it was doing that but… well it urged her to fight and she couldn't resist the urge, it felt nice!

She trusted her blade towards Bill, he dodged but it was hard to when she swiftly kept cutting towards him with almost no breaks. Eventually he tried to shoot her but it, somehow, ricocheted off the blade and broke through part of the wall of the building. Her smile was twisted and a small chuckle could be heard as she tried to slice Bill apart. Everything was about to end before the door to the building and a childish voice rang out.

"Hey guys, Miss Claudia is in here!" said Waffles, causing her to snap out of her fight-happy phase and caused her to dart her eyes to behind her. He was there with the other children looking through the door, interested where she was.

"Children what are y'all doin'?" Beans voice asked as she tried to get them to get out of the building. Unfortunately this was all the distraction that Bill needed to aim his gun at her and start to shoot. She was able to dodge but as she did she landed on her bad ankle and fell on the ground on her stomach. A click was heard and the cold metal of a gun was right against her head.

"End o' the line, love. You've given me 'nough trouble with 'urtin' my men, now it's time to send ya ta 'ell" Bill said as he prepared to fire. She waited for the fire but another rotating sound was made, this time behind Bill.

"You even _think_ about firin' that gun at her and you'll be the one being sent down to hell!" said Jake as he now appeared behind the gilla monster. Bill froze and slowly turned around to see Rattlesnake Jake behind him, not looking very pleased.

"R-Rattlesnake J-Jake" he stuttered, scared out of his wits so much so that he dropped his gun in surprise. "I-I wasn't goin' to kill her, I was j-just kiddin'!" he stuttered, obviously lying and Jake could tell as he hissed.

"Didn't look like you were kiddin' to me" he said with anger in his eyes, causing Bill to shake like a leaf. "Now git out of here before I decide to load yer body with bullets!" he yelled, causing Bill to run off with his tail tucked between his legs. Claudia watched him run off as she was slowly panting as she tried to stand up after putting her katana back in the sheath that was on the ground. When she got up she started to stagger and almost fell if not for Jake's coils catching her. "Look at you, you can barely stand, woman! What possessed you to get out of bed?" he said to her

"Hey I was able to walk better earlier before those assholes came in! Besides it was boring just sitting in a room with nothing to do" she said. He should know better than anyone that one can't stay in a room for too long when they have nothing to do. Before she could say anything else the coils around her tightened before Jake started to move out of the building. "W-wait where are you taking me?" she asked, starting to panic a little bit

"Back to bed, you need yer rest, and there ain't anythin' you can say to stop me from draggin' you back" he told. Claudia didn't say anything because she knew Jake wouldn't back down from what he was doing. It was a little embarrassing to have him drag her but what could she do? She couldn't walk well since she landed on her bad ankle again and the pain shot up through her leg. For a while there was just silence between the two before she decided it was either now or never.

"Um J-Jake… I'm sorry" she said to herself, causing him not to look towards her but he still answered nonetheless.

"For what?" he asked, like he didn't remember their little… 'fight' they had earlier

"For sounding like I was ungrateful for you saving me the day before. I didn't mean to sound like that, I was just curious" she told him. He didn't say anything at first but eventually he did answer

"Its fine just a stupid question made by a stupid woman" he said in a, surprisingly, light hearted tone. Her cheeks puffed up and pouted a bit

"It's not a stupid question and I'm not stupid!" she said. Jake chuckled

"Maybe so, but I still ain't answerin' yer question" he told her with a smile as he took her back to the building she used to be in and to her room.

"You can let me go now" she said as he arrived in the bedroom causing him to look around to her with a raised brow.

"You think that you'll be able to walk on yer own? Cause I ain't carryin' you to yer bed" he told her. She stuck her tongue out in a light hearted manner

"I can walk just fine!" she told him, causing him to smirk as he let her go, watching her walk towards her bed that she was supposed to be sitting in. As she got in bed he noticed something red through the tear of her shirt

"What's that on yer back?" he asked, moving his head closer to her. Immediately she turned around so he couldn't look

"What are you talking about? I don't have anything on my back" she told him

"No I saw somethin', somethin' red, like blood" he said.

"It's none of your _concern_" she said to him "It's just red from hitting against something, it's not a big deal" she explained. He looked at her with a skeptical look but rolled his eyes and decided to forget about it.

"Whatever, none of my concern just get some rest and don't do anythin' stupid" he said to her before slithering out of the room. Though he still had to wonder, was that red place on her back really just from getting slammed into something or something else? Well he didn't want to think about it now, he wanted to just go, eat, and then sleep for the rest of the day.

* * *

**Author:** Wow another chapter up... and again I didn't think this one was going to be long, I really thought it was going to be short though I did put a little rantful paragraphs between Jake and Rango and that helped me get almost 9 pages long in Microsoft Word xD. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this, it was pretty cool and it was a nice filler, but in the next couple of chapters things are gonna get intense for Claudia along with the reactions of everyone else. And I apologize if Bill might seem off... I'm only using him and his gang, probably, once in this entire fan fiction so it won't be totally bad, also I didn't even care for the rest of the gang member's names xD. Anyway enough ranting; hope to see you guys next time~

**P.S. **By the way does anyone know what those riding birds are called? I can't seem to figure out what to call them; if someone can tell me that'd be great~


	8. Blood Markings

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 8: Blood Markings

**Author: **YES the plot is underway 8D… also I feel like a dumbass for not knowing they were called Road Runners… though the only one I've ever seen is the one on Looney Tunes so that's my excuse xD But thank you DEVINE.L for telling me so I can name them in the future and now… to the fan fiction!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

Rango was riding on his road runner alongside his deputy Wounded Bird outside of town. The reason was not to find Jake, for he was now staying in town for the human girl's sake, but to investigate something else. The day before when Rango was out there he thought he spotted something shining in the sun under the sand. He was so distracted by Jake he almost didn't take notice of it, but he did and now he was going to investigate it.

"I wonder what kind of contraption this is…" he said as he and Bird looked at a rectangular screen covered in white with purple flowers around it. He poked at it and the stumbled away, as if he was ready for it to move; but it just sat there… sitting in the hot sun. It was a little hot from the heated sand but other than that it was an immoveable object. "Well… at least it ain't alive" he said to himself with a sigh

"Take back to town" Bird said plainly, as if he was ordering it, but just merely suggesting the thought.

"Of course we'll take it back to town; I want to get a closer look at it without bein' in this blasted heat!" he said before looking at the thing. It was big, almost too big for their rides, this could be a problem. "We're goin' to need somethin' bigger to haul it back to Mud…"

"Beans has wagon; use it?"

"Of course! I'm sure Beans wouldn't mind lettin' us use her wagon to bring this in, good thinkin' deputy!" he said as he got back on his steed and road off to Beans' ranch to ask her the favor.

* * *

Claudia was laid out on her bed again, back stinging like crazy and head pounding like there was no tomorrow. She had to say this was something she was not used to; usually her headaches didn't go through her sleep. But this time they did… it worried her a lot; not only that but these… tempting thoughts were plaguing her mind. What thoughts? Well they are thoughts that cause her to think of violent things; sometimes they're a voice, talking to her, other times they are just imagines of death, destruction and blood.

The scene she remembered the most was that there was a city on fire and a figure sitting among the debris with their head down. She didn't know what it meant but it kind of frightened her in a sense, she had never thought about these things in her life. Not until that moment…

"Where I first drew blood by cutting them. In my first fight I ever had in my life…" she said to herself as she laid there. The moment her sword made contact with her captor she felt something rush through her… something that felt unnaturally good. The rush that went through her gave her ecstasy that she almost couldn't control herself. It might have been the small part of her that was still attached to her but she didn't kill the two members of Bill's gang. She injured them, yes, but she did not kill them… she's afraid that if she didn't keep herself then maybe she would have.

Right then she wondered; why did she feel like that when she cut the jackrabbit yet she didn't when she cut the hawk? Neither died from the wounds she gave them but only the latter had given her that feeling. When she thought more about it she realized that with the hawk she was just protecting someone and not just herself. It could also be because she could understand the jackrabbit and that made him more… human-like so to speak. It made sense… though it didn't because she wasn't supposed to be like that in the first place!

"This is such a _bore_" she said to herself, hoping that maybe saying how bored she was would get her to forget about the weird feelings she had. Along with worrying about her own thoughts and feelings she was bored out of her mind. She thought about going out and walking around again in town like yesterday…

"Don't even _think_ about it, woman" suddenly Jake's voice said as he appeared outside her door when she tried to leave. She gave an irritated face

"Oh C'MON Jake, I can walk FINE" she told him "My ankle didn't crack yesterday so I can walk on it as long as I'm careful" she added. But he didn't back down, instead he held his head a bit higher than hers, almost hitting the doorframe.

"Look woman, it's my job to look after you whether I want to or not. So until the doctor says yer fit to walk around, yer not goin' ANYWHERE" he said, flickering his tongue in her face. He then smirked and added "'sides I shouldn't be the only one to be forced in a confined space". Her face turned to a pout, realizing his real reason

"Oh I get it; this is just revenge for forcing you into that container isn't it? Well let me tell you, it was for a good reason!" she told him. He had an amused expression on his face

"Do tell" he said, practically taunting her.

"In the beginning, if you had the chance, you wouldn't hesitate in hurting/killing me and my family even if we were helping you. You were a danger, it was a good reason for keeping you contained till you were better" she said with her arms folded. He knew this, he knew this and more yet he _still_ acted like a bit of an ass being all high and mighty. "If that ain't a good reason then I don't know what is!"

"You may have a point, still won't let you out though" he told her, the amused expression gone from his face. He picked her up with this tail and moved her back onto her bed; she struggled but it was of no use as she landed on the soft mattress.

"But WHY?" she asked as she sat back up

"Cause I _said_ so that's why; besides I'm sure yer gonna get in trouble the moment I take my eyes off of you" he told her.

"Even if I did I can take care of myself; you saw how I handled Bill and his men!" she told him, stopping after that. What made her think like that? She never really saw him watching her… the thought just got into her head without her even thinking. Jake was also looking at her with a surprised expression, wondering how she was able to figure out he was there without him making a sound. Well he guessed it wasn't that hard, but still, she had an eye for perception if the time came for it.

"Don't matter, you need yer rest because of that ankle of yers" he told her anyway. She scoffed at it

"I told you its fine… frankly I can't just sit here all day, I have nothing to do but sleep!" she complained. Jake snorted

"Then sleep, that'll make the day go faster for ya" he told her as he slithered away, closing the door behind him with his tail while Claudia pouted.

"What fun is that?" she asked herself as she crossed her arms while sitting on her bed. She didn't want to sleep, she wanted to look around, explore around the town by herself not sleep! But it seemed like she wouldn't be able to leave the building unless she wanted to get Jake irritated by being caught outside her room. "Well there's no way in hell I'm going to be sleeping all day" she said as she got up and, carefully, went to her room's window.

* * *

Inside the sheriff's office Rango waited around, looking at the blank black screen of the object he had only just recently gotten dug up. He was curious as to what it was, but no matter what he did he just couldn't seem to get it activate, no matter how much he tried! There was a screen on it so something had to pop up on it, but it was so hard to figure out what!

"You sure it's somethin' that you can turn on?" Beans asked as she looked at the large object.

"O'course! There ain't nothin' I can't figure out!" Rango said with determination, though he was still stumped on how to turn it on himself. "It'd help if we knew what it was, that's for sure"

"You really don't know much do you sheriff?" asked a voice as Jake came into the office. "It's a human-made object" he told him; hell even if he never met Claudia he knew something made by the human race when he saw it.

"I-I know that!" he said; since he used to live with humans he knew that but… well he hadn't seen an object like that before so he was stumped about what to do with it. Luckily Jake did though because he recognized it; it was Claudia's phone, it must've fell at some point out of her pocket or something. "It'll only take me a second to figure it out" he said, Jake gave a doubting look though. In his time being with her he had seen her use it a few times, so he knew how it worked. This idiot of a sheriff wouldn't even know how or where to begin

"Then attempt to turn it on" Jake challenged, watching Rango try to do something as simple as turn a phone on. It took a while as Rango fiddled with it until he finally found two buttons on the side. It had an unlock engraved on the button, getting his interest and he pushed it, causing the screen to show the time of day, the actual date and small words that said 'Press [Unlock symbol] to Unlock'. This was pretty explanatory in instructions so Rango pressed it again, getting a screen up and successfully turning it on. "Wow you actually managed to do it" Jake said; he was quite surprised that Rango figured it out at all even if it took him a couple of minutes.

"O'course I did, was there any ever doubt?" Rango asked, all proud of himself that he was able to figure it out. The outlaw snorted, knowing it was dumb luck than he was able to find it. Looking back at the screen he noticed that it was not the usual background that appeared when turned on, instead it looked like it was on some video that had just been recorded not too long ago. Jake looked at it with interest, not sure what it was; it may have something to do with the human girl or it may not.

"What in the world is that?" Beans asked, not sure what she was looking at, the screen seemed frozen, but you could click it just fine.

"A video it seems" Jake said as he looked at it. He had seen the human go into this screen once but this picture wasn't in it, it was new… and it bothered him because the only time it could record was after she had released him and before she appeared again with that cracked ankle bone. No he didn't want to know what it was if it had something to do with her, but his own curiosity, along with everyone else in the room, overcame him.

"Well we ain't goin' nowhere just standin' here, there has to be a way to start it" Rango said as he looked at the screen. Jake sat there, staring at the chameleon wondering if maybe he should just tell him the obvious about how to start it up. Nah, he'd let the sheriff figure it out and it would only be a matter of time before he did. All that was needed was him to go up to the screen and touch it with a padded finger and the video played from the beginning:

_Gun shots were heard through the house with screams of adult humans and a child that gave the video a startling start. The phone had been turned on by the child who was going to try and leave the vicinity with the phone. He was dragged away by men in red robes with their face covered with white paper_

"_Mom! Dad! Wake-up, please! CLAUDIA!" he cried, crying for his parents before calling the human girl. After that a door was heard being shot open and the cultists turned their heads_

"_Jacob!" cried the voice, as a figure ran passed the screen in order to reach the young boy before getting restrained by two of the cultists. The girl struggled as much as she could but it was no use, the men were two strong for her and dragged her away, past the phone a little bit._

"_Who is this?" asked a figure who was before Claudia "Ah, I gather you are the one and only daughter of this household, correct?" he asked. All she did was growl at him while trying to get away, though that failed miserably "And a tomboy at that" he added._

"_What the hell did you do to my family?" she asked "Where's my parents? Where did you take my little brother?" she yelled. The leader scoffed_

"_He has been taken somewhere else for a later date but since YOU'RE here, perhaps we can make an additional ritual" he said. She struggled some more before she yelped from her arms being constricted with a hand. "I don't think we've ever tried a female 'volunteer' before, so this experiment should work nicely" he said as he turned around and started to leave._

Jake watched, a growl almost coming up from his throat as he witnessed the treatment Claudia was going through. He was sure she was going to get out of it but he couldn't help but feel a bit bad for not being there for her. He shook his head, no she didn't need him there; she was able to get to him from this situation so of course she was going to be alright. There was no reason for him to worry about what was going to happen to her… right?

"_May I get a glass of water?" she asked "I just went for a ride around the block and I'm parched" she told them. The figures looked to each other, not sure if they should heed her request or just drag her down to the next location. _

"_Fine, I'm sure you'll need it for when the ritual starts" one of them said as they let her go. She traveled past the phone again and went to the sink before gulping down water as it came from the faucet. She did that for about ten seconds before standing straight and turning the water off and walking past the table. She then tripped, running into the table and knocking the phone on its side. Once she had gotten her footing she proceeded back towards the two cultists, but not before the screen turned pink as the flesh of her hand covered the screen of the phone before darkness over took it._

_For a couple of minutes nothing could be seen but the dark while footsteps echoed when feet connected to concrete._

This was odd, because Jake never thought there was concrete in her home, there was just the wood floors and the carpeted stairway that led to the basement… Unless of course the basement was concrete also but he saw the bottom of it and it did have carpet. It was quite the problem but he figured one of the rooms in the basement must've still had concrete flooring.

"_What is that?" asked a voice_

"_It's nothing" Claudia said in the most monotone voice as possible, but she still couldn't lie very well and suddenly there was light and a picture again on the video. It was too fast to see the picture well but form looking at it one could tell the room they were in was dimly lit. The figure from before held the phone in his hands and looked at it_

"_Trying to record and file it to the police?" he asked her, not sounding very pleased._

"_No, it's for my video diaries" she told him, almost with a sarcastic tone in her voice. _

"_Very funny, but this isn't going to help you in the slightest" the figure said and the phone was then flown to the side, hitting the wall. It landed on its side but somehow was still able to be propped up enough to see the feet of the humans in the room. "What we're about to do is very confidential in our dear cult; and by the end of it, you'll be a part of it too, a VERY big part of it" said the leader probably smirking at his words._

"_There's no way in hell I'd become one of you freaks!" the human girl yelled, her feet shuffling while she tried to get free of her captors. Of course it was of no use, two full grown men were too strong for one young woman to handle._

"_I'm afraid you don't have a choice child, your family was chosen by the Dark Prince, you and your brothers more specifically" the man said. He then look towards the two men holding her "Bind her with a chain on the wall so she cannot escape, I shall come back with the chalice" he said before he left to go back upstairs. _

_The cultists tried their best to bind her but she was proving herself to be difficult, struggling as much as she could. But soon it back fired and she was pinned to the wall. A rattling of a chain echoed through the room as one of the men who had held her brought over a chain attached to a clasp and latched it to the wall. Then the clasp, which was almost too small for her ankle, was locked on her foot, making her grunt out of discomfort. _

_It didn't take long for the leader to come back with a black chalice, causing the other two cultists to push Claudia on her knees before their leader. Of course, with the phone being so low, they couldn't see the liquid of the chalice, but the red droplets coming from it suggested something else. _

"_With this blood that runs through the animal representing our Dark Lord may you be transformed into a new being. May you let go of all other things in this life so that you are able to serve our Master to your full potential!" the man said as he lifted the chalice up before shoving it in the girl's face. The metal rim went to her lips but she tried her best not to drink it "Do not resist, you must drink the Blood of the Dark Prince!" he said. He gave more pressure towards the girl as the men behind her clutched her shoulders firmly. Eventually the liquid got into her mouth and she was forced to swallow, the red liquid running down her mouth._

_Only for a few moments did she drink before the cup left her lips and she cough, trying to spit whatever it was that was forced within her mouth. The rim of her mouth and around her teeth had the liquid residue all over it; it really did look like blood. "Now that you have drunk the blood of our Master, the contract can be made" the leader said. Then, all of a sudden, the girl was lifted up and, by the looks of it, had her shirt ripped off of her; having a big hole in the back before it was thrown to the ground and her with it._

_Ropes went around her body and were secured so that she could not move hardly. As she struggled her bare skin rubbed against the floor that actually had engravings on it. She was lying on her chest, making it hard to see her breasts that were being pressed onto the floor. When she was secured the leader came up, her sword in his hands, outside its sheath and red. "With this blade that is now sacred with the Blood of the Dark Prince I will carve the contract onto your flesh" he said. He then bent down and had the blade almost connecting to her skin "A piece of the Dark Prince's soul will now be connected to your flesh". He told her before having the sharp metal sink deep into her flesh, beginning the carving of flesh._

Jake, Rango, Beans and Bird watched in horror that the next few minutes of the video held. The blade carved into Claudia's flesh as she screamed in pain; at one point Beans couldn't even watch anymore. Rango was dumbfounded and horrified, too scared to look away. Bird watched with a sad look on his face, pitying the girl for having to go through all of it and some. Then there was Jake who was watching with shock, anger, and hurt mixed into his bare face.

_Blood spilled on the floor, going across her back, down her pants and on the floor. She kept screaming until her voice became hoarse from doing it so much even when she was still making weaving sounds in pain. Her eyes were now dulling; she was losing consciousness from the pain, coughing up, every now and then, blood from her mouth till she was too tired to do so any more. Still, at the last part when her eyes were flashing in and out of consciousness, she stared towards the phone. Her right hand, which was outstretched next to her, lifted up as much as it could with the little strength she had left and the ropes binding her._

"…" _at first she couldn't say anything, nothing but wheeze coming out of her exhausted lungs. But, eventually, she got the strength to speak "J-J… Ja…ke… h-hel…p m-m-m…e…" she said softly. Tears fell down her cheeks from the pain she was enduring; she was reaching out, calling towards the only protection she knew even if he wasn't there. Then her head fell and her hair covered her eyes, giving the sign that she became unconscious as her pendant got covered with the blood that came from her back. _

Out of that entire video he had seen, Jake had only been horrified and angry when he saw that scene. Claudia was there reaching out, calling to him… calling him to come back and protect her from the suffering she was enduring. The creepy thing about this was the fact that it looked like she knew he was there, watching this from another time. But, out of all the emotions he was feeling, anger was the most prominent, anger at himself. If only he had stayed there one more day if ONLY he had he could have protected her… he could have kept her from suffering as much as she did.

'_Dammit… if only I had been there…_' he thought to himself, looking down to the ground, having so many emotions going through him. This confused him, why were all of these feelings that he had no trouble keeping them away suddenly trying to erupt? The last time he had let his feelings out were towards someone he had thought he loved but turned out that it wasn't as mutual. Looking up again the video was still playing and for about twenty minutes she had laid there, unmoving like she was dead.

_At one point during the watch the video came to a static screen and something started to talk. _

"_Ekaw pu ym raed retsis, uoy t'nac yats ereh yna regnol ro esle ll'uoy nrut otni eno fo meht" it said. The language was unknown and there seemed to be a dark shadow went across the screen before it cut back to the girl's body. A hand twitched and she groaned, finally awakening from being knocked out from all the pain she felt. When she lifted her head up to find that all of her bindings were undone and she was alone in the room. Lifting herself up her arms covered her chest as she looked around before seeing her shirt and grabbing it. She used it to wipe away the blood with the sleeves and then putting it on before getting up and grabbing the phone and turning it off. _

That was the end of the video and they could only assume the tears in her pants and sleeves were because of a struggle to get away and to find help for her brother. And that is how everything came to pass, how she was in the desert and managed to find Jake. Now he felt a little guilty how he treated her when he saw her again, but he didn't know either… she didn't tell him. And she lied about having nothing on her back, causing his eyes to harden when he realized that.

A small creak sound came and Jake sharply looked behind him to the source and seeing eyes looking through the crack in the door. The person gasped and started to run off, causing Jake to slither after them, giving them chase through the main in the town. When he caught up to them he swiftly coiled around the body and firmly held so they couldn't get away.

"And JUST what are you doin' out of bed?" he asked as he looked own to see the human whom he had thought he had locked in her room.

"I couldn't just sit in there all day, and I wasn't sleepy, I had to do _something_" she told him. She then looked away, knowing that this was just a cover-up to what he really wanted to say to her.

"Well I'm takin' you back, then we'll have a nice long chat" he said as he dragged her back to her room, where they could talk in private. Rango nor anyone else in the sheriff's office went after Jake, they knew he wouldn't hurt her; they just needed a private talk with one another, about what happened.

* * *

**Author:** FINALLY I get this thing up! Sorry for being late with this one, I took a few days off from typing because... well lets face it I was doing this fan fiction 24/7, I needed a break xD. Also I had another speech, thankfully I was one of the first ones to do it so that's out of the way for another few days while I watch others do theirs. And YES another valuable plot point for our main heroine that gets our beloved Jake all upset and concerned; don't ya just LOVE making the outlaw feel so confused? I do xD Anyway next chapter Jake and Claudia have a talk then someone returns to finish the job! Or at least it seems like it anyway x3

Anyway see you all in the next chapter~

**P.S.** I'll be proud of anyone if they can figure out what the mysterious shadow said~


	9. Hostile Takeover

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 9: Hostile Takeover

**Author: **Next chapter! And is it just me or do some of the words in dialogues and sentences rhyme with one another? It's like a reoccurring theme that I don't even mean to put in xD

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

Claudia sat on her bed as she waited patiently for Jake to close the door to her room so they could have their talk. She knew what was coming and that she was probably going to get yelled at, cry, and then Jake will storm out of the room. That was what happened last time he disapproved of what she did… and these three things would probably be no different, if not make it worse.

With hearing the door slam and locked into place she knew it was the time for their talk to commence. It was just something the two of them would be talking about. Normally she would be nervous and too shy to speak to Jake in private… but she was sure he had no patience for shy attitude that night.

"So, you mind tellin' me why you disobeyed me and left yer room, LIED to me about what was on yer back and failed to MENTION what happened to you before you came to me?" he asked, turning around to face her. His face expected an answer and he had little patience to wait all night

"You already know why I left my room, I was _bored_… besides why should I take orders from you? You're not my dad" she said. She was looking away from him when she said this, making a pouting face in order to hide the fact that she felt really bad at the moment. And it was true, he was not her father… he was dead.

"Because I'M the one whose lookin' after you, and I'll be damned if you get hurt from doin' somethin' stupid like walkin' on that ankle of yers" he told her. She darted her eyes towards him

"But it feels fine, I know as long as I'm careful and not walk on it too much then it won't hurt or get damaged" she told him. She didn't know why he was getting all tied in knots about this; sure it was nice he cared but… God, over protective much?

"I don't care WHAT you think you feel fact of the matter is the doctor said you shouldn't be on that foot and so you need to keep off of it" he told her. He would never let up on that part; he didn't care how careful she was he still wasn't going to let her walk on it any. "What I REALLY want to know is WHY you lied to me, I don't appreciate bein' lied to you know" he said to her. "And you should have TOLD me what happened back there, told me about what them bastards did to you!" he cried.

Claudia just sat there and looked away, though it was evident that she was on the verge of being upset. Her nose was twitching, her hands gripping the bed tightly and breathing in and out deeply. Jake could see this but he still wanted an answer from her, and he wasn't going to wait all night. "Well? You goin' to answer?" he asked, impatiently waiting for her

"I… didn't want to be a burden" she said quietly, enough for Jake to hear but…

"What did you just say?" he asked, not sure if he had heard it right. That was when she snapped her head towards him

"It's because I didn't want to be a burden!" she cried. For some reason she stood up from the bed with misty eyes, she was still close to crying. "All of this is MY problem, I didn't think that I should involve any of you because I didn't want you guys to do something you were being forced to do" she explained. "Especially you Jake, I knew you wouldn't want to be bothered by something so stupid so I didn't say anything" she told him. Her head was down and looked a bit shocked at to what she said, she wasn't the bold type but… well she showed she could be when push came to shove. "Why bother saying something when I know that it isn't important to you at all" she said. Small tears went down onto the floor she was crying now even when she tried to will herself not to as she had her arms holding herself.

"Now look here…" Jake started to say as Claudia waited to hear the yelling from him that was surely going to commence. But then she felt something wrap around her, a smooth texture of scales rubbed up against her skin; what was Jake doing? "…who said that I would think that it wasn't important? Who told you that I would think it was stupid?" he asked her. He used his rattler to lift her head up to have her look up at him, she did but her eyes went down and to the side when she already knew the answer. No one had told her, she just assumed that he didn't because how he had acted lately, she thought he didn't care. "Just 'cause you think yer bein' a burden doesn't mean it ain't unimportant to the rest of us; ESPECIALLY from what I just saw" he told her.

This was a side that she had never seen from Jake before, a side of him that was caring and protective. She wondered if he was alright, but he seemed to be fine, nothing like he was sick or something, she wondered what brought this out of him… the video? "After seein' you in that video; callin' out to me for protection, you think I could stand idly by like it was unimportant?" he asked her.

"B-but I didn't think you'd _see_ the video" she said looking at him

"I know that, but when were you goin' to show it to me?" he asked her, she looked down. "You weren't ever goin' to, where you?" he asked her as her head shrunk back

"…No…"

"Thought so, and I bet you were goin' to run off by yerself without tellin' me, right?" he asked. She gave him a slight nod; she was going to leave without them realizing it till she was already long gone. Jake sighed as his thoughts were the truth that he was worried about "You can't just walk on out o' here even if yer ankle is healed you still wouldn't be able to go cause of yer current state" he told her. She looked to him

"But, I have to get Jacob—"

"Now don't start puttin' words in my mouth, I ain't sayin' I'm gonna stop ya from goin'" he said, giving her a surprised look. "I am sayin' that yer not leavin' till yer ankle is better and that we're ready to go when time comes" he said.

"W-we?" Claudia asked, a bit confused, causing Jake to smirk

"You really think I'm goin' to let you go by yerself?" he asked her "After what I saw I'm not lettin' you get _near_ them bastards without me" he told her. He wasn't going to take no for an answer, which was fine with her she was a bit nervous leaving by herself anyway. But what she didn't realize at the time was that he was doing this because not only did he not want her to go by herself and not be able to survive the desert, but he wanted to make those damn humans pay for what they did to her. He swore he wasn't leaving their hideout till he sent some of their souls to hell.

His coils around her squeezed only a little bit, showing her that he meant his word; that he was going to be there for her. It felt nice to her, the warmth of his body wrapped around her in a reassuring embrace, an embrace that told her that she was not alone. That not everything in her life had gone to hell and there was still some sort of hope that everything could go right again. That she could be with her little brother, save him and maybe even go back to her normal size!

_One in particular will care for you greatly and he, along with others, will aid you in times of trouble that are ahead_. That phrase from her dream suddenly went into her head like it was telling her this was what Roadkill was talking about. She wondered if Jake was the person who would care for her greatly… well he _was_ the only creature who knew her well enough.

While thinking she didn't even feel the warm breath on her until a moment or two after the fact as she blushed when Jake's mouth was in front of her. The coils around her were now away, giving her a lot of room to move. He nudged her with his head "Now git to bed, don't need you losin' sleep cause of a misunderstandin'" he told her.

"It doesn't help that you're so stubborn" she said to herself as she looked at him with a pouting face. He chuckled darkly again and used his tail to push her more towards the bed, causing her to give him an irritated face before facing the bed again. As she got in she heard the door to her room shut and now she was all alone… well she might as well get some sleep.

* * *

After leaving the girl's room Jake couldn't help but shake his head senselessly before going out in the cool night air to clear his head. It was nice to have an actual normal conversation, with that woman before it had only been tension, hate or fear. The moment he wrapped his coils around her body and felt her warmth was the moment that gave him energy… and happiness. He wanted to reassure her that he wasn't going to go back on his word; that he would go with her on this journey. But the funny thing is… at those last moments before he left her room he felt odd and… fuzzy inside. He wasn't sure what it was but at that last moment he was thinking of _kissing_ her… like lips onto lips kissing!

Okay he was totally out of it now, this human girl stimulated him enough to have him want to KISS her. What happened to the badass outlaw who didn't let anyone get in his way? The one who made people soil their trousers just by the mere _mention_ of his name? Ever since he met that human girl, ever since then he had started to act different towards her and feeling… softer.

"How can a single human woman make me feel so _weak_?!" he said with an angered snort as he slithered back to his residence. But he knew why, that scene when she was reaching out and calling for him… it finally occurred to him that she needed him. Without him… all her efforts to save her little brother will be in vain and that he had to be there to protect her, he had to! He had seen what happened the last time she went against them alone and he didn't want a repeat of it… not ever again. "I promised myself I'd never fall for another again… yet I can't help but feel so empty without one stupid human woman…" he started to say. He then chuckled "Guess that means I'm pretty stupid too…" he added before slithering off to his resting place.

* * *

The next day all Claudia did was just stay in bed for the most part as Jake was outside almost at all times, making sure she didn't leave the building. She didn't like it as she wanted to get out and get some fresh air, but Jake wouldn't have it, he was going to let her rest for one more day before he thought she was ready to move on her own. So all she could really do was walk around her room and be bored beyond her comprehension.

The only saving grace for her was that the children came to visit for most of the day, entertaining her and telling stories. It was nice that the children were so fond of her, even if she wasn't going to be staying long and she was going back home soon to rescue her brother. They tried to cheer her up and keep her from getting bored; they even tried to sneak her out of the building once or twice to show her something. But that soon backfired as Jake would catch them and 'kindly' tell them to go back inside. It was a valiant effort but it was in vain and soon it was time for them to leave at sundown. When they left Jake came into the room

"You about done tryin' to sneak yer way out?" he asked her as she sat on the bed crosslegged.

"You can't blame me… I don't want to stay in this room with nothing to do…" she told him as she looked away from him. She was pouting because she felt what he was doing was being unfair and that she should have some time outside. Jake chuckled at her response

"That may be true, but I'm just lookin' out for ya; you can't go travelin' if yer ankle is still damaged" he told her. "Besides, I wanted to wait till the end of the day to let you walk, to give you a chance to walk without the sun beatin' down on yer head" he said with a smile. It caused her to look at him with a surprised expression, which made him smile more as he nudged his head towards the door. "C'mon, let's go. We shouldn't waste time or else it'll be too cold for me to move" he told her. It caused her to smile and nod slightly before she got off the bed and, carefully, walked to Jake before exiting the building.

Outside the sun was heading down and there were very few people out as they were getting their errands done and heading home before the cold night settled in. Of course they also didn't want to be in Jake's way while he moved along in town with the human girl. She was limping somewhat, trying to keep off her damaged ankle as much as she could so that she would heal faster. And, of course, Jake was right next to her, making sure to catch her if she lost balance… and it was kind of relaxing, just walking with her. But soon the silence would start getting to them as it was a bit awkward; though that was soon relieved as Claudia lost her balance and he caught her with his side.

"Bit of a klutz today ain't ya?" Jake asked with a small chuckle, which caused her to pout.

"I-I am NOT a klutz! I just keep falling cause I'm not using my left ankle the much, it causes me to lose balance!" she told him. He could only chuckle at her response though

"Yer still fallin' down left and right, ain't that the definition of bein' a klutz?" he asked her. He had a point, not that she would admit it "'sides, I said you were bein' one TODAY; I didn't say that you were a klutz ALL the time" he told her. She still pouted, but it wasn't like he cared, in fact he thought it was cute which was odd since he never felt that way before.

"You made it sound like it though" she told him, causing him to chuckle and nudge her a bit with his nose.

"I did not, you just thought I did" he told her with a smirk. He was being oddly playful and since most folk were not out, he wouldn't mind it so much, he liked it actually. But Claudia didn't see any sense in it

"Knock it off! It's not nice to push someone" she told him with her arms crossed, it only made Jake chuckle more.

"It was just a little nudge, nothin' to get riled up about" he said with a smile before he continued to slither with her. Even though neither of them would admit it, they liked walking in the calm evening when not many people were out and the day had started to get cooler. It seemed like everything was going to be fine for this little walk, but that was soon discovered to be false.

Claudia was the first to notice as she looked up and immediately stopped in her tracks with a shocked look on her face. Jake also stopped to see her reaction; it made him puzzled as he looked to her, but when he put his gaze towards the direction of her own, he could see why. In front of them was a man in a crimson robe with a snake emblem on the front, a red hat, and a piece of paper with something scribbled on the front of it atop his face. His hell eyes narrowed as he recognized as one of the assholes who had made the human girl suffer a day or so ago.

"So, you really are still alive…" said the figure said, causing Jake to growl before he used his body to coil around Claudia's body protectively before hissing. His rattle shook threateningly, though it didn't seem to faze the man at all. "Release her at once. She is required to come with me" the male said, causing the outlaw to hiss louder and show his fangs.

"She ain't goin' _anywhere_, especially with _you_ people" he told him as he coiled more around her and kept her close to his body. The man sighed at Jake's answer

"I was hoping you'd be more reasonable" he said as he took a step forward "But it looks like I'll have to take her by force" this made Jake rattle his tail louder

"Over my dead body!" he yelled, he wasn't going to let them do anymore harm to her than they already had. He then let the gun on his tail spin before it locked into place, signaling it was loaded before it pointed it at the man. He fired a round of bullets, but they all ricocheted off of some golden… staff thing that he brought out. "What the-?!" he started to say with a surprised face before the man waved it, bringing out a strong power of some sort and knocking Jake back. It caused him to lose his grip with Claudia, who rolled on the ground some before standing back up.

She looked up to see the man heading towards her swiftly, as if he wasn't even using his legs to run but was floating. But that didn't matter since she dodged this charge and tried to go for her sword, but realized it wasn't on her hip and it was back in her room.

'_Shit_' she thought to herself as she looked back to see the cultist in front of her with the staff, causing her to barely dodge the next hit, which gave her a bruise on her shoulder. This made her try to kick it away and she did a little bit but only slid the top of the staff that caused the man to stumble back quite a bit. What she didn't see was the glitter of silver that reflected in the sunlight.

As they fought Jake wiggled as much as he could before he was able to get back on his stomach to look back to Claudia. She had knocked the cultist back and was now running towards him as much as she could with her bad ankle. He started to slither towards her only to see that the cultist was coming back, and at a fast speed. Seeing this, his eyes went wide and he attempted to call to her, telling her to look out; but before he could it was too late.

_Squish_

That wet, squishy sound was heard that made Claudia froze before looking down with her blue eyes. In her chest, right in her heart, was a steel blade going through her body. Everything for her just seemed to slow down or stop as the blood started to come through her shirt and run down her body. She stared at it for the longest time, her brain not registering what she was seeing that was impaling her own body. Her heart was beating, gushing out blood with every pump… and then time came back again. She realized what just happened to her as pain came through her chest, tightening it and giving her a harder time to breathe before she coughed up blood.

Her legs became weak and her eyes dull as the blade retracted from the body, letting her fall onto the ground, a pool of blood emerging from within. One of her hands could only twitch as life started to drain from her body as her organs began shutting down. She was already barely conscious and was fading to black fast as Jake went to her, calling to her. But it was all muffled from the sound of her own heartbeat slowing down.

"Claudia…?" Jake called as he went to her, he nudged her over and over, trying to get her to move. "C'mon speak to me!" he ordered, feeling despair and anger every time the pool of blood got wider as well as the emptiness of his heart. He then saw blood trickle down her mouth and her hand twitch; that was when he realized it, the thing he was hoping that was not happening in reality. Claudia… was dying. The very thought brought him ALMOST to tears as he shook, but he couldn't cry; no he needed to direct his sadness into anger, to avenge her! "You… BASTARD!" Jake yelled at the top of his lungs as he started shooting at the man who had started to leave.

He didn't dodge any of them; he let them hit his body with all of their might, but that did little to stop him. The blood seeped into his clothes, though that didn't do much as it was the same color, and he just stood there… unaffected by the bullets. Jake couldn't understand how the man was still breathing! He had just riddled his body with five rounds of fast flying bullets, he should be on the ground, dead!

"You think that mere bullets can stop me? I pity you" the man said as his head turned towards the snake.

"I don't need yer damn pity!" he cried as he lunged at the human, very angry that the person he VOWED to protect was now dead… or dying. Not that it mattered, he was going to lose her… he was going to have another broken heart…

"Whatever you say, but my duty was done here. I was either to take her back or kill her" he said as he turned his head around, dodged and then shoved Jake's head to the side with no trouble at all before he started to walk off. Jake was so angry… he wanted to squeeze the living hell out of that asshole till his guts came out of his mouth, ears, nose, and head! But he couldn't… Rattlesnake Jake, the GRIM REAPER, found himself unable to move… frozen in time because the one creature he cared for the most was now going to perish before him… he just couldn't take it.

"R-really? Y-you were suppose… to take or kill me…? W-well you did… a sh-shitty job …" said a voice, causing Jake to look behind him to see Claudia's body moving. She started to stand up, staggering on her way before coughing little blood. Jake could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Seeing her stand up the wounds on her body started to heal instantaneously… but that was not the only feature that was new to him. Her hand had now become sharp claws, her canines became large fangs and her eyes… boy her eyes; they were oval and slit, like a demons. The cultist was shocked too, before you could feel a smirk coming from behind his paper mask.

"Oh? This is rather an unseen development" he said with a chuckle

"What's so damn funny? You didn't do either of the things you ordered" she said, though she couldn't help but notice her voice was a bit distorted. The man turned around fully now and pointed at her

"Just look at you, it looks like your body has finally accepted the ritual for what it is" he said before chuckle. This shocked her greatly as she looked to herself; everything looked the same, till she saw her arms. Parts of them were scale-like… white scales embedded in her flesh connected to hands that had very large claws. She then used them to feel around her face as her mouth felt… like it had something larger in it. Along with other scales she could feel large fangs that used to be her upper mouth canines and even when she couldn't feel it or touch it her eyes had changed too, they were now more oval with slit pupils. Not that she was surprised about that as her whole body seemed to change without her noticing.

"What…" she started to say as she looked to her body before her mouth became a scowl "What the fuck… did you DO TO ME?!" she said, screaming the last part as she looked up with anger. The cultist could only laugh

"You have started to become one of US you're soul is joining with the demon sealed within your body" he said, causing shock to come to her face. WHAT?! Those assholes sealed a DEMON into her body?! Somehow that pissed her off even more. "All I have to do now is complete the ritual you deserted" he said before he took the robe and took ALL of it off. But what was revealed was not a man… no it wasn't even fully human.

The upper torso was pure black with sharp claws, long fans and black hair in the form of short dreads. The smile on its face with the red eyes deemed it inhuman even with not looking at the bottom half and seeing the black lower half of a snake; Claudia couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Oh God… a NAGA!" she gasped, never thinking that she'd see one in real life.

"What in all hells is a naga?" Jake asked, now behind her as he had circled around her body to see if she was really alive.

"It's… a half-human half-snake creature… or it could be a snake demon since some people refer to it as so" she explained. He wasn't sure what that meant… did that mean a human and a snake… did IT with each other and that was their offspring?! But she did say demon… that meant that this creature could have been from hell… which made him smirk as he was known for being the 'hell snake'… well so to speak.

"Yes… and you are becoming one… now just one last thing to do" it said with a smile before quickly coming towards her. Jake WAS going to put his body in front of Claudia but she started to move fast too, trying to dodge the snake man. For a couple of minutes they kept going at each other… or really the snake man going for her and her dodging him. But she couldn't dodge forever as, eventually, the naga out maneuvered her and managed to get a bite onto her shoulder.

"AAAAHH" she said as she grabbed the thing's hair and threw it away before grabbing her shoulder. She lifted her hand up to see what was making the stinging sensation, which was the black stuff that was around her bite wound. The black ooze was seeping into her wound, causing her shoulder to start burning like hell. "What the fuck did you do?!" she asked it, looking at the naga with a death glare. He only chuckled

"I gave you the venom needed to turn into one of us, soon you'll become one with the demon inside you and you will follow our Master diligently" he said with a laugh. "And the best part is, we're going to make your little brother go through the same thing. Every. Little. Detail. Even carving the contract onto his back~" he said with a maniacal laugh. This caused her to growl

"Where is he?" she asked in a low voice causing the naga to stop laughing and look at her.

"Where is who?"

"Where is my little brother… WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU TAKE HIM?!" she asked with a growl. She then was suddenly in front of him, grabbing his neck and slammed him to the ground, pinning him. "You better tell me or I swear I'll make you WISH that you killed me!" she said as she dug her new claws in his throat. Blood seeped into her hands as he made an attempt to answer.

"W-we t-took… h-him t-t-to the… headquater-ers in the city… b-building with red snake e-emblem" he said before the girl smiled sadistically.

"Thank you for your time~" she said with a giggle before she punched her hand into his chest and ripped out his heart, killing him instantly. Jake was a bit shocked when he saw her do this as he had never thought she was the type to be a sadist. Then again it could have been the snake demon thing or whatever it was.

Speaking of which, after that Claudia turned back to normal and looked towards Jake before sighing. She started walk normally towards him before she started to feel light headed and stumbled a bit. "J…Ja…ke" she said as she black out unconscious, being caught in the softness of familiar coils

* * *

**Author: **FINALLY I get this damn thing up. I'm sorry guys but like the update said there was a lot of shit going on in my life and such _ But hopefully I'll be able to put more updates as I still know what a couple of chapters are going to be about. Pray I update soon; till then Bai Bi~


	10. A Dark Dream

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 10: A Dark Dream

**Author: **Well here's another chapter x3 I really do love this fan fiction but I do have distractions… like school xD;;; Anyway hope you all enjoy this chapter~

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

Jake was looking at Claudia with a worried look as she laid in the bed in her room with a small towel on her forehead. Her face was flushed red and was breathing heavily with a face that showed pain. She had been like this ever since she was bitten only an hour ago, he worried if this was going to kill her… that he would _really_ lose her this time.

The doctor said that she had broken out into a fever and it seemed that the venom from the bite was highly poisonous. He said that her body was trying to fight it off, which was why she broke out into a fever so suddenly. This caused him to be even more worried since his venom wasn't like that, it killed his opponent instantly. Then again she WAS a human… maybe her body treated venom differently but still she might not survive the injection.

Looking to her he saw her shift again in a position that caused her sheets to fall away and she was almost off the bed. That was when he used his nose to nudge her gently back into the bed before grabbing the blankets/sheets with his mouth and put them back over her body. The more he stayed with her the more he realized that she was very fragile right now and he had to take VERY good care of her.

"How is she?" Rango's voice asked as he came into the room; Jake looked at him, bringing back his outlaw personality and not his caring one.

"Still in a fever and shiftin' all over the place; damn woman won't sit still" he said with a snort. But this was just a façade, he was very worried about her… but not like he was going to be showing that in front of people, especially the sheriff.

"I wouldn't doubt she would, Doc said that her body was fightin' off the venom. Likely she's shiftin' because she's uncomfortable, or perhaps even in pain from the injection" he explained. This caused Jake to look away from him and back to Claudia… she was in pain and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. She took care of him but he couldn't take care of her, hell he couldn't even PROTECT her! But he wouldn't give up… no he would do his best to make sure she lived even if he had to die!

'…_Do I really want to MAKE that sort of sacrifice? To a lone human woman?!_' he asked himself when he realized that he was thinking of making such a though of getting himself killed to protect her… to save her. But he already knew the answer as the beating of his heart every time he saw her happy face and the anger at the thought of someone attempting to hurt her. He realized he cared for her greatly… maybe he cared about her more than anything else. Maybe… '_Maybe… I've actually fallen in love with her… hehe what a stupid thought_' he said to himself. He was the outlaw known as Rattelsnake Jake… why would he fall in love? With a human no less! Yet he couldn't deny his own feelings when it came to the thought of her leaving this world forever.

"Uh Jake…" Rango's voice said, piercing Jake's thoughts and causing him to snap his head at him with an annoyed expression.

"What?" he said sternly

"W-well… are you alright? You've been starin' at Miss Claudia… f-for sometime… a-are you that concerned for her safety?" he asked him. Immediately Jake put up an act when asked that question, he wasn't going to let ANYONE even THINK that he would care for her… right now it was kind of embarrassing.

"You really think I'd be WORRIED about her?! I'm just waitin' for her to wake up is all, she can handle it, and it's just a fever. Humans have them all the time" he told him angrily. Actually he was pretty sure they didn't but it was a good enough excuse to make Rango think twice about what he was thinking. And, of course, it worked as the sheriff put his hands up

"Alright alright, I understand I won't question yer motives for stayin' with her. I was just wonderin' was all" he said. He didn't want to get on Jake's bad side, he DID have a town to protect and uphold the law in. Besides he had a feeling that Jake was just pretending he didn't… if he really didn't care for her he wouldn't be sitting there now and watching her. Also he happened to be a brilliant actor, and he can tell when someone was acting. Of course he couldn't help but see the playfulness he showed earlier that day with her, both him and Beans saw it.

'_He may be denying it… but he truly cares. Why I bet he's even fallen in love with her_' he thought to himself with a smile. This, unfortunately, was noticed by Jake who gave him a disapproving frown

"And what are you smilin' at?" he asked him

"Oh nothing, just a nice thought is all" Rango said to him. The snake eyed him suspiciously as he wasn't sure if maybe he was thinking about himself and Claudia. "Anyway, I gotta go and patrol the town… I'll leave the both of ya alone" he told him as he started to leave the room when another shift was heard, with a grunt.

He turned to see that he and Jake were watching Claudia, who was clutching the sheets so hard her knuckles went white. Her face was also crunching up and teeth clenched, showing pain as her head went from left to right. Looking closer one could see that black veins started to spread slowly from her wound and through her body. They hadn't gone far, only about a few inches… but it extremely worried Jake as what it could mean. Rango was going to say something but… well he figured that Jake would want to be alone with her right now so he kept silent before leaving the room.

"She looks like she is in much pain, doesn't she?" asked a female voice, causing Jake to turn around with a scowl at the source for intruding when wanted to be left alone with Claudia. He couldn't see much of the woman cause of the long and dense veil around her, causing her long black hair to be the only thing clearly visible.

"Why are you here? This ain't any of yer business" Jake snarled, not really wanting to have company other than Claudia right now. He didn't know this woman, but he didn't care, just being alone with the human girl was all he wanted right now, not anyone trying to put pity on him and/or her.

"Perhaps, but this girl is in great pain and she is going through a trial that will decide her fate" the woman simply said, causing the rattlesnake to come up to her with an intimidating look and a growl deep in his throat.

"You better not be sayin' that her fate is to DIE, because that's somethin' I am NOT goin' to tolerate" he hissed, causing the woman to shake her head slightly.

"No of course not her fate will be decided by herself and how she handles this situation. I am glad you are here to watch over her, I'm sure she'll be happy to know that you truly love her so much to stay by her side" she said happily, causing him to sneer.

"I never said I _loved_ her, I'm just watchin' over her because it's my job!" he told her, rattling his tail a little.

"Actions speak louder than words, my friend" she simply said, knowing he was in denial about it right now. He scoffed at her angrily, getting annoyed at her presence

"Yer words mean nothin' to me, so why don't you just leave?!" he asked her.

"Alright… just remember that she needs you, and that she cares about you deeply; don't disappoint her just because of your pride" she told him. She then, as quickly as she came, left with no trace of her that was left behind; causing Jake to huff.

"Freaky woman, she has no idea what she's talkin' about" he said to himself before looking back to Claudia. She really did look like she was in pain, and it didn't help that the black stuff was spreading with every minute that passed. But all Jake could do was sit there… sit and hope that she would be able to overcome this… to wake up by opening those beautiful blue eyes of hers.

* * *

After feeling a burning sensation near her shoulder Claudia saw herself stationed in some place that was like a black and cold medieval castle or something.

"The hell am I?" she asked herself as she looked around, confused as to where she had gone now, but she felt she needed to get out of there, and fast. Walking around she couldn't help but feel like something was watching her… something that was dark and waiting for her. She didn't like it; it felt like temptation was trying to get her to its side… it begged her to go for it and talk to her; to get her. "First things first… time to find the front door and get out of here" she said, looking around to see where she could start.

She looked around for a window, perhaps to get her bearing to where she was in this place and then work her way from there… but that was easier said than done since there was none where she was at the moment. She was about to move when her shoulder started to get pain, making her grunt a bit. She looked to it and peeled away the shirt a bit to see that her shoulder was oozing black goo that was bubbling at the open wound. Below it and under the skin the infection was going under her skin, slowly spreading through her body, if she didn't find a way to stop it, it would over take her and she was afraid on what would happen if that took place. "First get out of here and THEN deal with this problem" she said to herself before she started to move around.

The whole place seemed like a maze, the stairs were everywhere and even upside down… kind of like the Goblin King's castle in Labyrinth except it didn't feel so… demonic like. "I really don't like this feeling I'm getting" she said as she walked around "And it feels like I'm going in circles" she added as she went down a flight of stairs. She stopped as she cried again, and looked to her shoulder and removed her shirt a bit. The bubbly puss of blackness was still there, but the strings of said darkness had spread was and was now to her chest area, heading upward and downward so that it could spread all through her body.

"Shit" she said as the stinging sensation kept on where the wound was. She could feel the dark power starting to infect her being; if she didn't do anything then she was going to turn into one of those freaks! "Need to get… out of here…" she said as she kept going, trying to find her way out, unfortunately though she ended up where she started. "God dammit!" she cursed "I just went around in a damn circle for who knows how long!" she cried. "Agh!" she cried again, her shoulder was burning once more, God this infection was going through her body quickly, it was even to her neck and legs now! "Great I have less time now then I had bef—" she started before she put her hand on her head and grunted. A voice echoed through her brain

"_Come to me, little girl, come to me…" _it said, giving tempting and soothing words to her ears. Even though she didn't want to listen to it, she felt compelled to go where it wanted her to. She did realize, though, that the presence of the voice and her pain were about the same… was it the source? She wasn't sure if it was but… it was the only thing she had to get out of this place so she kind of had no choice. She sighed as she began to walk to where the source was at.

As she walked she couldn't help she was feeling like she was watched… though she guessed that was the presence making sure that she did what she was told, still it was creepy. Hearing a shift Claudia looked to the corner of her eye and saw a dark shadow, causing her to turn that direction. Only for a second was it there before it darted away, leaving her stumped on what it was. Even if she was able to see the figure for a second longer she wouldn't be able to tell what it was because it was dark, which might mean trouble for her later.

For around ten minutes she seemed to just be going around in circles or just in the wrong direction before she finally got to a door. She opened the iron black door to see an orange glow from whatever it was below, and she could tell the source was down there.

"Let's just pray they are friendly… even though I really doubt it isn't" she said to herself. She went down the spiral stairs to where the source was at its brightest and strongest down in the room that was in the basement/cellar/dungeon. When she came down there was nothing much to see other than a fire place and a… hissing sound. "…Jake?" she asked herself, but she had a feeling it wasn't him… no she knew his hissing when she heard it and that hiss didn't belong to the outlaw. "Who's there? Show yourself!" she called, wondering who or what was in the same room with her even if she was a bit frightened by the presence.

"Sssso, you've come to at lasssst" said a hissing voice; one that she knew was one she should not trust. A then small and black snake came out from the darkness and in front of the fire. "I am sssso pleassssed that you came to my calling child" it said

"Who the hell are you and why did you call me?" she asked him, causing the snake to chuckle, putting his tail over his mouth.

"I am that massster of thosssse who wear the robessss of red. _I_ am the Prince of Darknessss that wassss mentioned by my loyal worsssshiperssss, and _I _am the one ressssponssssible for the transsssformation you are undergoing" he said. Causing her to snear at him

"YOU are the asshole who put me under that damn ritual because people worshiped you?! Do you REALIZE how much pain I went through?!" she asked

"Of courssss I do, I sssspecifically told them how to make otherssss be like me and them, to give them a piece of my own power by giving them my demonssss that are affinity towardssss mysssslef" he explained, but she still was pissed off about what she had to go through.

"That is a HORRIBLE way to make people go through that kind of shit, YOU should not be hurting people—"

"SSSSILENCE" yelled the snake, causing him to grow huge and wrap his coils around her body tightly as the hood around his neck opened up; this snake was a cobra! "You, little girl, have no right to be ordering the likessss of me around, _I_ am the Prince of Darknessss" he told her.

"I… I could care less" she said, intimidated "I'm not going to let the likes of you turn me into a freak-!" she started to say before yelling; squirming around in his coils. He then chuckled at her

"You cannot resssit the temptation girl. The darknessss issss already sssspreading through your body; the moment it coverssss the whitessss of your eyessss you will become a part of my power" he told her. The darkness was now up to her head and across to her other arm; she was feeling it course through her body, making her will weak. She hated it… that and the fact that it felt so WRONG and… gooey as it went through her veins. The coils around her squeezed, causing the air in her lungs to start to suffocate… this was almost like the time Jake was choking her… except it was only around her neck. "Give in, and become _mine_" he commanded… and a part of her wanted to, to obey him so badly… it was almost overwhelming.

"No, I can't… I could never…" she started to say before being squeezed more

"Yessss you can, CAVE into your dessssiressss mortal let your need to worsssship me over ride your ssssenssssessss (senses)…" he said as he got closer to her face, and to her ear. "Become mine~~" he whispered, causing her to pulsate, the darkness quickly going through her body, filling up one of her whites before starting to fill the other one.

"N-no… I-I can't" she started to say as she was struggling, but the darkness slowly but surely was covering her whites, it was only a matter of time before she turned into his trusted follower. The snake chuckled as he watched intently with a sadistic smile, waiting for the girl to become his loyal follower. "S-Selena-sama…G-Go—d…" she whispered, hoping that someone would aid her… someone who could help her overcome the urges that are overpowering her own will.

'_T'nod evig pu retsis, I lliw emocrevo eht nomed taht snetaerht er'uoy efil_' said a voice familiar to her. Her back arched as she looked up as her vision was getting blured and dark, causing her not to be able to see the dark figure clearly. But she saw the darkness swiftly go to her being and a dark light went in front of her. But suddenly it turned to white, a light that caused the snake to cry in pain

"Agggsssssg! Cursssse you damn white light!" it cried

"_Daughter do not fear, I am here_" said a female voice "_Come and touch the light or else you will be doomed to become a minion of this darkness_" she told her.

"I rather die than be with this bastard!" she said as she, unhesitantly, reached for the light.

"NO sssshe will be mine!" cried the cobra before he chomped down on the girl's arm, causing her to scream in pain as the blackness started to make her skin turned black, her nails getting long in sharp along with her fangs. She was turning into one of those black demon snakes; she had to get to the light fast if she wanted to save herself!

"I…I…I… I can't let you overcome me!" she cried while she tried to use her other arm only to feel that it was tightly put against her body by the cobra's coils. This meant she was to use the arm that the cobra had a hold of already '_Dammit I have to… reach… light_' she thought to herself. She stretched her hand towards the ball of light as much as she could but it was just out of her reach. The cobra chopped down harder, causing her to cry in pain as she was starting to black out, she was going to turn into one of them! "J-just a little closer… just move the ball…a…a little closer" she said to herself which, amazingly, caused the ball of light to move closer by her own will.

The moment her finger's tip touched the glowing orb it sprung into action, filling the room of light and transporting her into a white room with a white table and an orb in the middle that had a swirl of colors going around inside it.

"Where… am I?" she questioned, not sure where in the hell she was at right now

"You are in a safe place, Daughter" the woman voice said, causing Claudia to turn around to see a woman in white with a white veil over her head. "Because of your will to not be controlled by the darkness you were able to escape the Prince of Darkness and come to this place. But your journey is not over yet, you have to get rid of the poison darkness that still is inside your body" she told her.

"But why? The source is gone, Selena-sama, shouldn't the darkness…go…away…?" she started to say as she heard that her voice was now getting distorted. Selena-sama shook her head

"No, he was just merely advancing your transformation faster than it was already going… as well as to make you succumb to it that much more quickly since you were proving to be resisting" she explained. She then went to the table with the orb "Do you feel pain, Daughter?" she asked, causing Claudia to begin to answer before grunting painfully. She was squirming around

"Why-! Why do I feel like my blood in on fire?!" she asked

"Because your body is changing and trying to cope with/counter/destroy the dark poison that is currently in your body. If you want to overcome this, you must accept what your body is trying to do"

"How?!"

"Drink this" She said, causing Claudia to look to her as the woman held a white chalice with a rainbow liquid within, just like the inside of the orb. "Drinking this you can stay yourself and you will gain something that will prove to be its advantage over your foes" she told her. Claudia did take it but looking in the liquid she wondered if this was really it and that maybe it might kill her to release her from this pain and darkness. But she knew Selena-sama… or at least knew she wouldn't do something as cruel as to let her die instead of being over taken by darkness.

Even though she was a bit nervous, Claudia knew that if she didn't drink this she might as well be dead since she would be like a zombie, following darkness wherever it went. So she clutched the chalice gently before putting it to her mouth and lifting it, letting the liquid go into her mouth and enter her body. The liquid was warm and soft, going gently down in her body with no trouble at all, it was like she was drinking the light of the world.

When she was finished she gave the chalice to Selena-sama before feeling something… some power going through her. She looked to her body and saw the darkness under her skin was getting sucked away by… white veins that were branching from her neck and through her whole body. She no longer felt temptation to follow the Prince of Darkness and, instead, she felt freedom that she should never give into his temptations again.

"What…" she was going to say but stopped since she couldn't describe what kind of feeling, causing the woman to smile gently.

"Go back to the world now, Daughter, for the one who loves you the most is waiting for you to awaken from your deep sleep" she told her. Then Claudia fell down as the room spun around… and then she woke up.

* * *

Jake stayed at her bedside for so long, for _hours_ he stayed by her side, unmoving because of how worried he was for her. Of course if you asked him he'd snap at you, but it was to cover up how he really felt for her.

"I hope yer right about usin' my venom to help counter the poison in her body" he said to Rango, looking on the edge of snapping because he would be really pissed if the venom of his actually won't help or it would kill her instead.

"D-don't worry Jake, I can guarantee that yer venom will help out!" he said, though you could see a bit of nervousness. It was the only advice he could give "What is that?!" Rango suddenly said, pointing to the human girl and causing Jake to look to her. His eyes were wide as he saw the darkness that was covering her skin go away and replaced with white veins.

"Unnn" a grown came from Claudia as she was finally waking up from the fever she had been suffering for the night to the morning. Jake got closer to her as she started to awaken

"I-I'll go and tell everyone she's awakening!" Rango said as she ran out of the room. That was the actual reason why he left, but he also left because he figured Jake would want to be alone with her when she was awake.

"Oh God… I feel like there's a ton of bricks on my chest" he said, coughing a little bit; Jake chuckled.

"Well you were in bed for about a day fightin' off that venom with the wounds you received from that Naaga or whatever" he said to her.

"Oh that's right the wounds!" she said as she looked on her shoulder to see how it was… but the wound wasn't there, there wasn't even a scar! "It's gone… well I guess that's one less thing to worry about" she said with a sigh

"Really?" Jake asked as his head was right next to her.

"Y-you don't have to be so close!" she said after realizing how close his head was to her, scooting over a bit with a little bit of a blush. He smiled and chuckled at her reaction before nudging her gently with small push

"I'm just makin' sure you ain't hurt or anythin' it's my job after all to look after yer sorry soul whether I want to or not" he told her. She puffed her cheeks up

"Really? Well considering you pushing me you don't seem too concerned for my well being considering I just got went through hell" she told him, causing him to laugh, shaking his tail with delight.

"Yer all getting' worked up 'bout that little nudge?" he asked her with a sly smile that looked… a bit playful and got closer to her "Then how 'bout this?" he asked. He then started to nudge his head against her body, humming deeply, causing her to feel the vibration as his mouth went against her body.

"J-Jake knock it off!" she told him causing him to deeply chuckle but stop, looking at her

"What? I'm just tryin' to make sure yer alright" he told her

"That's a load of bull, I feel heavy right now; I need rest from all the shit that I just went through" she said to him. He smiled, happy that she was okay; so happy…

"I know and till you get better I'm not lettin' you leave this here bed" he said with a nod. She just snorted, causing him to chuckle and then rubbed against her softly… almost lovingly. It caused her to blush and be a bit confused… was Jake really that worried about her? Did he really care so much for her? Why did he feel this way? She couldn't figure it out and, hell, he didn't know either. All he knew was that he didn't care for someone so much as he cared for Claudia, especially ever since her life was threatened and she was about to die.

This was just the beginning of two species who come together in harmony and who understand each other. This is also the beginning of a love between a human woman and a male snake whom both have yet to realize that they are in love. Let's just pray that they will survive long enough to know their feelings.

* * *

**Author:** GOOOOOD I FEEL LIKE AN ASSHOLE! I've kept you all waiting for so long, I'm sorry Dx. In order to get this chapter done quickly I decided to move one confrontation to another chapter at a later date. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I was putting the dream thing off which is why I had not posted anything in so long, but maybe I'll get going again, I still need to think what kind of things I can have in the next chapter. Anyway I'll see you all later, Bai Bi~


	11. Warming the Cold Heart

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 11: Warming the Cold Heart

**Author: **DERP… Jake was only affectionate towards the last end of the last chapter… I'm going to make sure there's a lot more in this one 3 So yes… this will be a romance based chapter that will be considered filler; don't fret though, a little bit of the story will be implemented in.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction. Also I don't own the song that will be used in this chapter.

* * *

"J-Jake" Claudia said as Jake rubbed against her… affectionately.

"Hm?" he asked her, the humming vibration going through her body as he listened to her voice.

"How long… are you going to be "checking" to see if I'm okay" she said, having a feeling that he was just cuddling with her or something. He was just using it as an excuse to show his happiness that she was alive and well.

"Hm… perhaps for a few more minutes will do the trick" he told her as his coils shifted around her. For the past... couple of minutes he was doing this? She figured he'd stop by now, he even, unnoticeably, put his coils on her bed; she figured he wanted her in his coils. Even though she appreciated and, despite not wanting to admit it to his face, liked being in them she felt herself get nervous and fidgety. "Hey relax woman, it's not like I'm tryin' to eat ya or anythin'" he told her before smiling

"Well maybe my body wants to stop being pushed so it can rest" she told him "I just went through hell, I would like to get some decent sleep" she said. Jake snorted with a small frown, she guessed it was because it seemed like she didn't like the feeling she got when he was rubbing up against her.

"Sleep? Woman you've been sleeping for about half a day already what do you need more sleep for?" he asked, causing her to blink.

"Seriously? I've been asleep for that long?" she asked, causing him to nod

"Yea, I had no choice but to stay next to you and hope that you didn't go dyin' on me" he replied. "So I know that you were sleepin' like a little baby for quite some time, you should have _plenty_ of energy~" he said with a chuckle. He then started to wrap more closely around her body as his head got closer to her again. "Now stop squirmin' or else I can't check all yer muscles" he said with a chuckle, almost as if he were joking about it, which he probably was. Before she could object, though, sounds were made outside the door, causing Jake to look towards it and took his coils down. That was when the door came open as Rango, Beans and the children came into the room.

"Hey look, Ms. Claudia's awake!" exclaimed one of the children as they scurried to her bedside, causing Jake to move out of the way, though looking a bit irritated. He wanted to spend more time with her, hell he would spend all day and night with her… he just felt so overjoyed that she was alive and well… and that he didn't have to mourn for her death since she wasn't dead.

"Yea, I'm awake kids, but I don't feel too hot since I just fought over a nasty fever" she said with a nervous laugh.

"Well at least yer alright now, no need to worry about that venom in yer blood anymore. In fact it's Jac- er I mean Jake who saved yer life by injectin' you with his own venom" Rango said. She nodded at first but stopped and looked to Jake with a blink

"Just put it on yer tab woman, you can pay me back later" he said, going back to his outlaw self. He looked away from her, being a bit cold but she figured he wouldn't be acting all affectionate and happy around other people; it just wasn't his style or the type of image he wanted people to see.

"Well we were all worried about you and we're glad that yer able to get over that fever of yers" Beans said, causing the human to nod with a small smile.

"I appreciate it, nice to know that I'm in such a dependable town" she told them before yawning. "But I'm still rather tired so…"

"Understandable ma'am. We'll leave you alone so that you can get some more rest" Rango said as she motioned almost everyone in the room to exit so Claudia could get some more sleep. When they were gone Jake looked to her and put his head low and next to her on the bed after she sighed and laid back on the pillows.

"I'm surprised yer not tryin' to run off and git yer brother or anythin'" he said, which was true because he thought he was going to have to keep her from running off again. She shook her head slowly, signaling she was ready to go back to sleep

"No… I'm really too tired to do something as stupid as that right now… and I know I can't travel being like that and I know you wouldn't let me even if I tried" she told him with a small smile to him. He chuckled and nodded

"Damn right and I'm not movin' from this spot so I can keep an eye on ya" he said. Jake then curled his body right next to her bed after getting a large blanket to cover himself. It was just like how it was before… them two sleeping next to each other except… well Jake was a lot bigger and Claudia a lot smaller. "Night" He said as he closed his eyes before his hat over shadowed them

"Night" she said back, closing her eyes as well and falling into a peaceful sleep; a nice change of pace from what she just went through.

* * *

The next day Doc came over and checked her ankle since she claimed she felt it become better. She wanted it to be checked so Jake would get all bent out of shape to have her walk around.

"Hm… well it looks like yer ankle ain't that damaged anymore. I'd even say it's fully healed" Doc said. It caused her to look to Jake with a small smirk, causing him to snort and look away; this meant that she was able to walk around again!

"Awesome!" she said to herself, happy to know she was able to go and "That means I can go and get my little brother~" she said happily.

"Now don't go doin' something stupid before we even have the appropriate supplies, woman" Jake said to her. She looked to him, her happy mood ruined

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, yer not even fit to go out in the desert, yer shirt is torn and you have nothin' to protect yer skin from the sun and the cold. Also it'll take a few days (possibly) to get there and we don't even have supplies to keep us from starvin' to death… well mainly you" he said. She frowned, great more delays she didn't need any more damn delays, her brother's life and, possibly, sanity hung in the balance. "Don't go frownin' like that, it's only goin' to take a day or two to git everythin' in order" he said.

"It still means that I have to wait longer to go and find my brother and who knows what's happened to him by the time we get there" she said, pouting. Jake looked to her

"Well we ain't goin' till supplies come in and you have the appropriate attire to be travelin', no ifs ands or buts about it" he told her with a nod. Great… well at least he was going to let her walk around for a little bit anyway and maybe try and get used to whatever powers her new 'body' had given her.

"But I really don't want to wait that long, I'm really worried about my brother, he's going to turn into a freak if I don't help him" she said. Jake looked to her

"Woman, if you go with nothin' but what you have right now you ain't goin' to survive one _day_ in the desert!" he told her. "You need to stay put and wait for supplies and the proper attire before you get any stupid ideas in yer head about goin' off unprepared" he told her. Why was she being so persistent about saving her brother?! She was more important in safety here… at least from Jake's perspective since he was a bit overprotective of her now.

"But…"

"No _buts_ we're not leavin' town till we're ready" he said a little sternly. He was being stern cause he cared, he couldn't have her dying again, it hurt too much to see her like that. There was no way in HELL he was going to lose her again and if he had to strap her down to the bed till they're ready to leave, then so be it. Losing her… it would be the pain he felt when he was betrayed all those years ago and he didn't want to feel pain like that again. This was why he was such a tough outlaw who has walls up so strongly, he couldn't bear to get hurt… and it was humiliating when he finally realized he was being played with all that time.

"…Jake?" Claudia asked, causing the snake to shake his head and look to her after getting out of his own thoughts. Even though he didn't realize it, his face looked… a bit hurt when thinking about back then and it made her wonder if something was wrong. "What are you thinking about? You look…" he started to say but stopped herself, with other people in the room she didn't want to say it out loud. He snorted

"I'm just fine" he said, no way in hell he was going to admit that he showed a… softer emotion than what he usually did. "None of yer damned business on what I'm thinkin'" he said to her, causing her to wonder if it was a good idea to start saying something like that in front of others.

"I was just curious" she said innocently, she did want to know more about him, though he was still hesitant to let that part of himself open up to her. Sure he cared a great deal for her but he wasn't totally ready to trust… not after what happened last time he trusted someone. "There's no need to snap at me!" she said

"Well _maybe_ you should mind yer own business" he hissed and shook his metal rattler, not happy she seemed to be trying to pry into his personal thoughts.

"I was just concerned! You seemed to be troubled!" she told him, but he waved it off

"Well I don't need any concern from you! Just wait for the damn supplies and leave me alone!" he yelled. He then just slithered off in a frustrated way, much like the first time she had come; God what was with him? This caused her to sigh

"What is wrong with him?" she asked herself, because earlier he was rubbing all over her and then he storms off.

"Well I guess I'm gonna have to go calm him down again" Rango said with a sigh causing Claudia to nod. While he left to do that, she felt like going around town again so she could stretch her legs for the first time without worrying about her ankle.

* * *

After another one of Jake's little anger argument with the human girl Rango decided that he should calm the outlaw down so that he and the girl could stay together, he didn't need the two fighting. So he went towards where the snake had slithered off to the tavern owned by Buford. So the chameleon sheriff strolled into the bar. It looked like usual, having a crowd and such, but they were a lot quieter and… there as more tension in the air. Of course when a giant outlaw like Jake is inside that tends to happen and even Buford looked on edge but kept his cool for the most part, he did have a business to run.

"Give me a barrel of yer strongest" Jake commanded before Buford nodded his head and went into the back to look for a barrel that held his strongest drink. Rango gulped as he was nervous with talking to the outlaw, but it had to be done or else he would stay mad for a while. Also he didn't want him killing someone just because of his own insecurities

"So this is where you ran off to" he said as he, a bit nervously, walked to the bar and next to the diamondback. "So what are you doin' here, brother?" he asked, though he already knew why.

"You know damn well why I'm here; I swear that woman is the most stubborn creature I have ever met" Jake said as he snorted. "Why are you here anyway? And don't tell me it's because it's yer 'duty' to calm me down or anythin'" he added.

"Well she's just so concerned about her brother and all, he's the only family she has left" Rango said. "Well don't think about it like that… think of it as just tryin' to help a fellow brother out"

"I don't need yer help _brother_, besides she needs to learn that bein' prepared is the best way to go. It don't matter if her brother is in danger, she needs to be patient or else she'll die before she can even get to him" Jake said. He couldn't understand… I mean sure he did care for his siblings but that was a long time ago and he cut ties with his family since he started his outlaw life. To him his family was as good as dead, they didn't care about him and vice versa.

"You sure about that? Cause the way I see it yer bein' too hard on her. You may not care about what happens to her brother really but she does, and wouldn't that make you care?" Rango asked.

"I ain't bein' hard on her! This is a lesson in life that she needs to learn!" he hissed looking at the sheriff with a glare.

"Can't ya loosin' up a little bit? The last hope of having a normal life is in her brother since he's the last family she has" man Jake was so hard to reason with, why can't he be less hard on her?

"Because I don't want her makin' another stupid mistake and having me save her sorry soul again" he stated. As the two were talking Buford came back with the barrel that Jake ordered and put it on the bar's counter. Jake wrapped some of his coils around it and then opened his mouth to let his fangs out so that one of them could pop the lid off. He then proceeded to drinking from it, pulling his head back as he chugged the liquid.

"You know, I keep finding a common link to what yer sayin' Jake" Rango started to say, though the diamondback did not answer. "It always comes down to the fact that you don't want Miss Claudia bein' hurt, which gets me to thinkin'… you really care about her don't you?" he asked. After this accusation Jake slammed the barrel on the counter, causing it to burst and them to be drenched.

"Take that _back_!" Jake growled "Don't you ever, _ever_ accuse me of carin' about someone other than myself, ESPECIALLY a damn human like her!" he yelled, causing Rango to back away. Jake was REALLY someone you did not want to make angry… though despite that he could tell that it was an act. A very big act considering the amount of kill wanting in his hell eyes but still an act, one to cover up his true feelings.

"But Miss Claudia ain't exactly a human anymore is she?" Rango asked, causing Jake to pause with his mouth slightly open. There was silence in the whole bar since Jake's outburst caused everyone to freeze in fear for they were afraid he'd kill something that made the slightest noise.

Rango was right… Claudia wasn't human anymore she half human half… snake thing… which meant she was kind of like him! Sure she had demon blood but it had an affinity with snakes, so… maybe… maybe things could work out for him being with her! But first he had to keep his act up a little

"That maybe be true sheriff, but she don't know how to handle that side of her yet. She needs time and patience… and if she goes unprepared to find her brother she'll die before even learnin' one thing about it" he said. He looked to Buford and snorted before he turned away from the counter and started to slither out.

"Where are you goin', Jake?" Rango asked

"None of yer damned business" he answered, which meant that he was going to go find Claudia and… maybe apologize to her. She's probably walking about somewhere, and he was going to have to find her… not that it would be that hard considering how small the town is.

* * *

After Jake stormed off the half-human girl went for a walk by herself, free of her ankle being a nuisance and whatnot. So she walked around and found a nice little building that seemed to have been abandoned for some time and since spiders weren't small or anything she felt pretty safe.

For a while she just stayed in there and let herself have a piece of mind that was not in that damn bed or around overprotective Jake. It was relaxing, though she did have time to think about the troubling things and the irritating things. Some led to her brother and her family but most of the time they all went back to Jake the Overprotective Rattlesnake. Why couldn't he see that she cared about him? Why couldn't he tell that she wanted to be there for him? That she DID want to be with him, that she liked being with him and being in his coils?!

But most of all… those sad eyes… they almost looked hurt and she was concerned on what was making them hurt. She wanted him to open up to her, to open his heart to her so she could see the wounds that were made on it and… maybe heal them.

"This reminds me of a song that I heard a while ago…" she said to herself with a small smile. And, without hesitance since she was by herself, opened her mouth and started to sing.

_The day I first met you, you told me you'd never fall in love_

_But now that I get you I know fear is what it really was_

_Now here we are, so close yet so far, haven't I passed the test?_

_When will you realize baby that I'm not like the rest._

_Don't wanna break your heart I wanna give your heart a break_

_I know you're scared it's wrong like you might make a mistake _

_There's just one life to live and there's no time to wait, to waste_

_So let me give your heart a break, give your heart a break_

_Your heart a break oh, yea yea_

_On Sunday you went home alone, I thought there were tears in your eyes_

_I called your na-ame, my love but you almost didn't reply_

_The world is ours, if you want it we can take it, if you just take my hand_

_There's no turning back now baby, try to understand_

_Don't wanna break your hear wanna give your heart a break_

_I know you're scared it's wrong, like you might make a mistake_

_There's just one life to live and there's no time to wait, to waste_

_So let me give your heart a break give your heart a break_

_Your heart a break oh, yea yea_

_When your lips are on my lips then our hearts will beat as one_

_But you slip out of my fingertips every time you run, whoa_

_Don't wanna break your heart wanna give your heart a break_

_I know you're scared it's wrong like you might make a mistake_

_There's just one life to live and there's no time to wait, to waste_

_So let me give your heart a break_

_Cause you've been hurt before I can see it in your eyes _

_You try to smile it away but some things you can't disguise_

_Don't want to break your heart baby I can ease the ache, the ache_

_Give your heart a break let me give your heart a break_

_There's just so much you can take give your heart a break_

_Let me give your heart a break let me give your heart a break_

_Your heart a break oh yea yea_

_The day I first met you, you told me you'd never fall in love._

Alright so she tweaked the lyrics a little but it was her singing how she felt about her and Jake… and that she wished he would just trust her. They had known each other for a couple of weeks now; shouldn't he begin to open up to her? She wanted to help him… she cared for him a lot; why couldn't he see that?!

Suddenly there was a creak and her head whipped to the wooden door of the abandoned building but there was nothing there… was it the wind?

"Who'd ever thought that you'd be able to sing so decently?" Jake's voice said behind her, causing her to gasp, walk backwards and then trip and fall on her bottom. He chuckled

"D-don't sneak up on me, I almost had a heart attack!" she whined, but he only smiled a little as his coils were in a circle around her.

"Then perhaps you should pay more attention to yer surroundings. Besides seein' yer flustered face gets me in a good mood" he told her. She pouted

"That's no reason to scare me half to death"

"Well you wouldn't have been scared if you weren't singin'" he replied to her, causing her to freeze and blush more.

"You… you heard me singing?! H-how much?! How long have you been listening?!" she asked, highly embarrassed, causing him to smile

"What do you think?" he simply asked, avoiding answering the question like he should. Truth of the matter he only heard the last bit about knowing he was hurt by the look in his eyes, not like he was going to tell her. "Though what does it matter, hm? I was the only one to hear that voice of yers and that's _all_ that matters" he told her, his coils now wrapped around her. But it wasn't like he was going to try and suffocate her or anything, in fact it kind of felt like an embrace.

"H-Hey, let me g-go!" she said flustered, but he just pulled her closer to his body, mostly his neck and head.

"Now why should I do that? Don't you like bein' in my coils~?" he asked teasingly just trying to get in her head… though he kind of hoped she did like it.

"I-I thought you were mad at me!" she said as an excuse, this caused him to put her closer, causing her body to go against not only his coils, but his neck as well.

"I cooled myself off, I'm not mad at you anymore~" he said as his looked down to her "Besides I came to tell ya that I made the orders for supplies, hopefully they'll be here soon. But you have to promise not to go off before they arrive… okay?" he was asking sincerely, hoping she wouldn't do something stupid and leave before getting supplies. His eyes were asking with concern, and she could tell as she looked in them. It caused her to sigh and, unconsciously, put her head up against his scaly chest

"Alright fine, I won't leave before I'm ready" she replied, causing him to smile before bending down and nudging her head a bit lovingly.

"Good, cause I would hate to have to break somethin' in you to keep you from leavin'" he commented as his nose went through her hair. It smelled nice and it was soft and smooth, he loved it and it felt even nicer when her tiny warm body was in his coils, it warmed him right up.

"I'd like to see you try" she said, causing him to chuckle as he looked at her with loving eyes. His rattler came up and rubbed against her cheek, the metal being cold to the touch against her warm peach-colored cheek.

* * *

A few days after that, supplies and clothes arrived for the two… though most of them were for Claudia and not Jake, especially the clothes.

"See? Don't that feel better than yer tore up human clothes?" he asked her, causing her to huff in response. What he had gotten her was a western get-up that consisted of a plaid white and blue shirt with a brown vest, pants, shoes, gloves and a cloak that was draped around her shoulders.

"This thing has a hood right?" she asked, referring to the cloak as she was avoiding the question all together. Jake nodded

"Yep and pockets too so you can put yer personal belongings in them… well if you even brought any" he told her.

"Thank God… tell you the truth I'm surprised you didn't order me a hat"

"I didn't think you as the kind of woman to want to wear one" well at least he knew her enough to know that. "Anyway we're about ready to leave, so go get yer sword and the supplies we got so we can be on our way" he told her. She smiled and nodded as she went upstairs to get her stuff so she could finally go and rescue her brother.

"I guess this is goodbye huh?" Rango asked as he stood next to Jake

"'Course it is, probably won't come back after this for a long time…" he said, a bit melancholy about it since he realized that… if she finds out how to get to her normal size then she would leave him… possibly forever. And from that song he heard partially, he felt that maybe… maybe she had feelings for him too…

"Oh don't go sad that yer leavin' town, Jake. I'm sure you'll come back to us for a pit stop or maybe on business" he said cheerfully, causing the snake to snort

"I ain't sad about anythin'" he stated.

"I got everything… can we go now?" Claudia asked as she had her sword on her hip and bags of supplies for herself. She was eager to hurry home, get to the city, and then go the city to rescue her little brother.

"Right right, keep yer pants on woman" he said as he slithered to her "You got everythin' right? Then attach them to my bullets, that way you don't have to carry them" he told her. She nodded and attacked the sakes of food and other things on Jake's bullet holder before getting on his neck… after he motioned her to do so.

"Well I wish the both of ya luck then" Rango said, tipping his hat "Yer always welcome in this town as long as you don't cause trouble" he said with a chuckle. Claudia nodded back

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind"

"Alright girls no need to get emotional, time to get goin'" Jake said jokingly, causing her to roll her eyes. He smiled though and then slithered off into the desert for the rest of the day as the girl prayed that they wouldn't be too late to save her brother.

* * *

**Author:** Well at least I didn't take a month to get this next chapter up, I guess I really wanted to have some "romantic" scenes with Jake and Claudia since there are so few of them atm. But I'm happy~ I was going to add a last scene but... well considering this chapter is about 10 pages via Word I thought it would be a good time to stop xD I'll just put it in the beginning of the next one. Also it is just me or does this Jake have mood swings every so often? I realized this when I was writing and I was like: Damn it's like he's got a PMS of his own... even if he's male... and not a mammal. But I find it amusing, guess that's one of the things about my Jake muse that makes him who he is... thankfully he doesn't have the swings much though. Anyway till next time; Bye Bi~


	12. Growing Love

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 12: Growing Love

**Author: **Man I should really hurry up and get his fan fiction done… I already have the first chapter of the sequel to this in mind xD Also we're finally getting closer to the climax of this fan fic and, sadly, the end of it as well. Though I'm sure I'll be able to make a sequel… maybe if I can think more about it.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

As the two traveled the desert the sun got lower and lower as well as the temperature, if they didn't stop soon then it would be too cold for Jake to move at all. Luckily as they were going through there was a rock formation that had an opening under a "roof". When they got closer to it Jake stopped, causing Claudia to look at him

"Get off for a minute, I'm goin' to check it out and make sure it's safe" he told her. She knew what he was thinking and so he didn't have to say it, they were both knowing what would happen if it got dark. So she nodded and slid off his neck and waited as he slithered closer to the entrance in amazing stealth as he entered the entry way. It only took a couple of moments before his poked his head out of the darkness with a smile "It's alright, nothin' in here as far as I can tell" he told her

"As far as you can tell?" she asked with a raised eyebrow

"Just get in here" he told her, causing her to roll her eyes but go inside with him anyway. It was a spacious place… well spacious for a humongous rattlesnake and a small half human girl. But there wasn't much else they could really do other than make a fire or something and eat. "Too bad there ain't any branches 'round our else you'd be able to eat… luckily there's some food in one of them pouches that you can eat WITHOUT a fire" he told her. He then he bent over to his bullets and then grabbed one of the bags with his mouth before setting it down next to her. "Why don't you eat somethin' before we turn in for the night?" he asked her

"Are you sure?" she asked as he smiled and grabbed the piece of rope that was holding the bag shut.

"'Course I'm sure, woman. Just hurry up and eat somethin' so you won't be starvin' when we finally get some shut eye" he told her, which was soon since the sun was going down and he wouldn't be able to have a fire to keep himself warm… which made her wonder how he was going to survive that night if they didn't have a fire.

"I guess…" she said as she was thinking about how Jake was going to survive that night more than eating for the rest of the day. But she figured he wouldn't have it with her worrying about that sort of stuff so she just ate like she was supposed to before they went to sleep. When she was done she felt as content as she could be

"You done?" Jake asked, causing her to nod with a 'yes' before closing the bag and tying it back on Jake. After that was done there was a sudden shift and his coils were around her, causing her to gasp.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" she asked, completely surprised by his sudden action

"What do you think I'm doin'? I'm preparin' us to get some shut eye" he told her, like it was obvious. "Since yer a mammal and can retain yer own heat I'm sure that if you sleep with me I won't have to worry about the cold killin' me" he said. She figured as much considering snakes were cold blooded and all of that, but still.

"W-well you could have asked me first!" she stammered with a blush, causing him to smirk

"And what fun would that be? Gettin' you surprised always gives you the most entertainin' of faces~" he told her. She huffed, causing him to chuckle "Don't get all upset, it's only goin' to be fer tonight, nothin' too difficult" he told her. Without hearing another word from her his coils shifted, going under her and surrounding her being so she would be in a bundle, almost like a bed made of coils. Then his neck went over her body, completing the 'blanket' of the few coils that were already over her so that one of his eyes could see her. "Night" he said with a tired voice as his head rested easily and being covered by his hat

"…night" she replied before shifting so her head was on one of the top coils before falling asleep herself.

* * *

It wasn't till early morning when the sun was rising and the sky was a pale morning blue before Claudia started to wake up from her sleep. At first she was confused a little, forgetting about all that happened to her and the fact that she was sleeping in the coils of a deadly diamondback rattlesnake who also happened to have a gun for a tail. Thankfully this snake was an ally and actually cared for her deeply, though that didn't stop her from almost getting a heart attack when she saw him.

'_Right… it's… just Jake_' she thought to herself as she calmed herself down and breathed in slowly. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep but found that she couldn't, causing her to open her eyes again slightly. She looked over to see Jake's head across from her, over her body with his hat covering the eyes. He was breathing slowly, just like when he was sleeping in the cage back at home. For some reason she found herself blushing, thinking that it looked so cool to have him sleep like that… it made her heart race. '_I never though, in my whole life, that I would start to have flushed feelings for a snake_' she thought to herself as her head lay on his scales.

Suddenly she felt movement as the snake's body of muscle moved from under her head and around her body.

"Hm…" he breathed, causing her to wondering if he was waking and, out of pure instinct (or her shyness) she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Maybe it was because she didn't like to be the first to wake up, or it was just she didn't want to be awake when those hell eyes open and stare at her.

Not a moment too soon after she closed her eyes his peered open sleepily before moving to where her body was. He smiled with a sleepy smile, knowing very well she was awake and was faking… but what's the fun in calling her out on it? He knew ANOTHER way to get her to stop faking~

All of a sudden the girl felt something wet and slimy lick her neck and cheek, causing her to squeal a little and flail to get away from whatever was licking her; shortly after a dark and amused chuckle came from next to her.

"Finally stopped fakin', I see" he told her with another chuckle

"That's NOT funny, Jake! You just don't LICK someone" she whined, causing him to nudged her head.

"Now that wouldn't be fun just to have ya get called out for bein' awake~" he told her "'sides, I was always curious on who you'd taste". He licked her cheek once again causing her to whine more and push him away

"Jake, knock it off" she told him, causing him to sigh in disappointment, couldn't she see he was playing? He didn't mean any harm, he was just oddly playful that morning, maybe because he didn't have to go through sitting in the sun and warming up, he only had his little heater who was wrapped in his coils.

"Fine then" he said in a neutral voice as he put his head back. No he wasn't hurt, he wasn't so fragile as to get hurt by the one creature in this world who he would possibly want as his mate to refuse his playful gestures. She had always been shy so maybe this was uncomfortable for her; also she was a human… and sometimes humans weren't aware of the customs of wild animals.

"Jake I'm so-"

"DON'T go apologizin' woman, its fine" he said a little sternly, he didn't want her apologizing because then he'd feel bad. "Don't think that that little thing is goin' to hurt me; don't go underestimatin' the Grim Reaper of the West" he told her with a snort. He then sighed and looked at her with a tired look that made his hell eyes a bit less intimidating "Anyway… did you sleep alright? I wasn't… uncomfortable was I?" he asked.

"No no… I slept alright" she told him, causing him to smile a little

"Good, cause I don't want to hear any whinin' from you cause I ain't a bed" he told her. Then he yawned widely, his fangs showing off and mouth unhinging a bit, causing her to look away because it was so weird. After that he started to shift, no doubt being stiff from hardly moving much last night

"Do you need to stretch?" Claudia asked him, causing Jake to look at her and nod before uncoiling around her.

"Now don't go runnin' off, I'm just goin' to stretch for a minute then we go back on the road" he told her. She just rolled her eyes and let him stretch while going towards the opening of the rock. Once near the opening she climbed up (since there was a small drop) and looked out to where she could see the desert floor as much as she could. As she looked towards the left she thought she could see the outline of Mud in the distance, though it wasn't as visible as it once was yesterday. She never thought that they had traveled so far, even though it was probably just a few minutes if she was normal sized.

'_Even though it's far to our standards… I don't think that it's much to where we're going_' she thought to herself as she sighed. She wanted to get to her brother, she had been away from him for so long and he wasn't very equipped to protect and survive by himself. Granted she didn't either but she was older and more experienced than him so she probably had some sort of advantage.

"…eh?" Claudia said as she thought she saw something in the distance going through the sky. At first it was a small spec that quickly started to grow larger and larger as it got closer and closer. Even when it was much closer she wasn't sure it was, causing her to come more out of the rock to get a closer look. But with its screech it immediately was evident what it was; causing a gasp from behind her before she was yanked back into the rock. Jake had grabbed her with his mouth and pulled her in and away from the dangerous predator that was out there. He then proceeded to put her in the middle of his coils, a bit protectively one would add.

"What the hell are you doin' woman, tryin' to get yerself eatin'?!" he asked in a hushed tone. She looked at him quizzically before hearing that screech again, it was from a hawk… and she remembered because she heard it when Jake was getting attacked right after he tried to kill her. "Stay quiet and low" he commanded her as he looked back to the opening of the rock, seeing the shadows of the flying bird hovering over to where they were. He prayed the damn bird didn't see her and that it would leave.

They stood there for a few minutes, Jake keeping Claudia in his coils protectively while his hellfire eyes watched the hawk with intensity. He was thankful she wasn't the talkative type or else he'd actually have to bury her deep in his coils to keep her mouth shut, but she liked to keep quiet, especially during times like these. As they sat there another screech came from the hawk, which was eerily familiar to him as he watched. Every once in a while small feathers would fall off, which considered odd to him. Looking closer and narrowing his slit eyes he looked to where they were falling off and saw that there was a scar… or really a slightly opened wound where the feathers were falling.

Seeing Jake was looking at something specific Claudia wanted to look too… but as she tried to pull up to get more height his coils had their grip on her tightly. He wasn't going to risk her getting seen and would rather have her stay put till the threat was gone. Unfortunately the damn hawk just kept flying and eventually landed to the ground and started to walk on its talons. As it got closer and Jake flicking his tongue in and out he could smell blood… it wasn't fresh but it was still there he even thought he saw some caked on the feathers that fell. Then the hawk stopped… waiting for something… did he see Claudia? Was he trying to find her? These thoughts troubled him as he tightened around her more, causing her to look at him.

Her breathing was shallow and quiet, trying to make as little sound as possible as the predator was listening to any sound that might be heard. He knew he heard something… he SAW something… then it looked over to the rock they were under… tilting his head before walking over. Seeing this Jake quickly went back down into the rock and slid to the back wall, holding Claudia the closest he could to his neck. Automatically she put her head against his neck, going up against the underbelly where his white scales showed. He looked down to her silently, noticing she wasn't trembling, she was just breathing slowly and calmly, as if she was just watching something mediocre. He was amazed she wasn't freaking out, like most females (or creatures really) would be doing; but then again she was… used to be human and hawks weren't really much a threat. Either way, he felt he should assure her in some way so he nudged her head softly, causing her to look up and saw his confident smirk, causing her to smile.

He wanted her to know he was there and he wasn't going to let her get touched, which he seemed to signal rubbing against her cheek with his nuzzle softly. But it stopped suddenly as a shift was heard from the desert ground from something sharp digging into the dirt. His head sharply snapped looked towards the entrance where the feet of the hawk was now right outside. Thankfully the opening was too small for him to get through, but it still didn't make Jake that less protective. He put his head down low, and curled it around her body so that it was right next to her and hissed a little. The only reason why he didn't shake his rattle was because he was unsure if the hawk even knew if they were there or not, if it didn't then it might leave and if it did… then he was going to have to attack and defend the girl.

While they sat there the bird tried to scrap his beak to get into the rock, squeezing as much as he could to go in there before it was evident there was no way in hell he was going to enter an entrance that it's head wasn't even going to be able to fit through. So FINALLY after about ten minutes of it trying to get to them the damn hawk finally flew off as the coast seemed to be cleared. So Jake uncoiled around her before going up to poke his head out, looking back and forth to make sure everything was clear.

"Alright… seems like that damn bird is gone" he said with a relieved tone in his voice. "C'mon out, we need to get goin' so we can make some progress" he said, gesturing her out with his head. She nodded as she crawled out of their hole so that their journey could continue on. As she went towards Jake, though, she thought she felt the wind change, too bad she didn't realize it till it happened what was coming towards her.

Right then and there something grabbed a hold of her shoulders with sharp claws that buried into her shirt and even cut her a little. Safe to say Jake was a moment too late to react "Claudia!" he cried with anger as he realized that the damn hawk didn't leave, it was waiting for them to come out!

"Jake!" she cried back as her heart leapt since she was getting taken via flight. Why had it gone after her? Jake was its prey, but it waited for_ her_ to come out… this didn't make any sense! Unless… Oh God

"Bastard, she's not yer target, I AM!" he yelled as he started to cock his gun but… he couldn't shoot. He didn't; no he COULD NOT shoot or he would have the risk of harming her while in the hawk's talons. If that hawk was the same one as the one who attacked him multiple times already then he knew why he took Claudia and not him. As he looked up he saw her struggling, her legs dangling high above… half demon or not if she fell she would at least break her legs, he had to get her back down to safety! Unfortunately the bird started to fly away from him and taking her somewhere else, but he was on their trail, he wasn't going to let her out of his sight, not again.

* * *

Feeling exhausted the pain from her shoulder blades and arms was almost dulled at this point since they had been soaring for over an hour now, and those clawed talons still ever so clenched on her flesh and clothes. Her blood stopped flowing as quickly as it was earlier, but still trickling across her skin and clothes, God how long was this going to last? Looking up she could see that the hawk was not paying her any mind and that its wound was still visible from whatever made that mark.

Only a few more minutes before they came on a cliff where the hawk tossed her roughly on the hard ground. With a heave she coughed for a minute before trying to get up, but was pinned back down by the talon belonging to the bird.

"So human think you can just give me this damned scar and get away with it? I'm going to make sure you pay for losing my meal!" he said, putting more pressure on her back. Not only crushing her, but bringing pain to her slightly sore back. "After that I'll probably eat you AND that snake that was supposed to be my meal earlier"

"J-Jake…" she called lowly; wishing he'd help her out though it looked like that hawk lost him a while ago. She couldn't depend on him to save her though, she was half demon now, and she should be able to handle this! She just had to think on what she could do, but since her sword was not reachable she had to think of something else… wait… didn't she use claws once? Like right after she got stabbed by that damn cultist? Now all she had to do was summon them… but how in the hell was she supposed to do that?!

"Ack!" she sputtered as the hawk started to really bare down on her back, she was freaking surprised her spine hadn't broken yet at this point. She had no time to think or her back really WOULD give out on her and be broken, possibly leaving her paralyzed! Looking over to her hand as the pain kept coming… if only… if only it would turn into a claw of some sort! Right then something pulsed and, as she looked, under her skin white veins were glittering under the service, light shining within them every time her feeling pulsed. Suddenly her nails go longer and sharper, something that she was hoping to see so she could defend herself. So not waiting for another moment Claudia turned her head to look at the talons before twisting her writs and then stabbing the claws into the hawk's flesh as hard as she could.

_SCREEEEEEEEEEECH_ was all she heard before, suddenly, the claws were ripped away, causing her to gasp in pain and relief, and heard the stumble of the large animal. She got up; coughing and panting a little looked over to see him coming, flailing his wing and starting to peck at her. That was when she started to run, though most of it was stumbling as she was dodging, surprisingly, well enough so that it just barely missed her time and time again. But, thankfully, she remembered she DID have a weapon on her so she quickly took out her sword just in time as the beak came down on her. She griped the hilt with both her hands before attempting to whack it with all of her strength, which actually did a lot considering it caused the bird to recoil and fall over.

"…Holy shit" she said in a gasp, surprised that she was able to do that with such little effort. She smiled… as for some reason it felt good to have this kind of power, she didn't feel like she was weak! But the hawk was down, not out and it was only a matter of time before he used his wings to get back up and come at her once again. For a while she fended off the bird as much as she could, unfortunately it wasn't long before the hawk figured out that her sword was the real threat and managed to throw it to the side before grabbing her by the mouth and throwing her to the wall. Her clothes were now dirty though they weren't that ripped thanks to the cloak she was wearing.

"You will DIE wretched human, then I'll consume that damn snake when I'm done eating you!" he cried, pinning her against the wall with his talons and pressure.

"Really ain't smart of you to take the Grim Reaper's job" said a voice that was soft, yet it was projected well enough for the both of them to hear. Before the hawk could turn his head something brown and white came out of nowhere and shoved the bird to the ground. She was released from the grip as she fell to the ground. Looking up she saw it was Jake who was coiled around the hawk's neck biting into it and causing it to screech in pain, probably because he was injecting it with venom.

But there was no time for her to stand there… Claudia had to help him out at least a little bit! So she ran over to her sword, though right when she did Jake yelped, causing her to look over and see that he was thrown off and was being subdued by the talon at his neck. He was flailing and grunting

"I should have eaten you when I left you on the side of the road, that human may have saved yer damn life, I won't… let that… happen" he said, heaving, causing Jake to laugh

"You wish, my venom is workin' in yer system now, yer about to die" he told him. The hawk didn't look very happy.

"Maybe so, but at least I'll have you in my stomach!" he screeched

"Not today ya damn bird" suddenly Jake shifted his tail and started to shoot… but even though it was hitting the hawk, he managed to use his other talon to pin the tail down as well. Now the bird was coughing up blood, he did not have much time to live, but he seemed to want to make sure he was going to take Jake with him. "Don't think that just cause you've pinned me down don't mean I'm out; I ain't the only creature who's a threat to ya" he said with a grin.

She knew that was her cue so Claudia got her sword and started to run to the bird and, before she even knew it, she concentrated the muscles in her legs, which caused her to jump higher than she thought. She started to get freaked out, seemingly her heart going up to her throat; it made her feel like she was on a roller coaster. But she had to fight that feeling; she needed to ignore it and strike as much as she could! So she got into the moment and raised her sword as she descended onto the predator

"You forgot about me, dumbass!" she cried, causing him to look up only to have her sword to stab him through the eye, screeching and stumbling away from the both of them, coughing up blood more than ever with more dripping down his eye. Before he could react Jake used his body to slam into the bird, causing him to screech horribly as it became a gurgle the body trembled from being hit and the venom running through him. In only a few more moments the bird stopped and finally fell, causing Claudia some relief while she breathed in deep and put her word away.

"Claudia…" Jake's voice softly said, causing her to turn to feel him wrap around her "You alright?" he asked, using his nuzzle to poke her body and see if she was injured.

"I-I'm fine Jake" she told him but as he flicked his tongue in and out his face looked a bit displeased. He grabbed her clock with his mouth and saw that some of her shirt was tore and she was bleeding a bit.

"I don't think so, yer bleedin'!"

"It's just a little bit, it's not that big of a deal" she told him.

"Don't go arguin' with me, woman, it is so hold still" he said and before she could object he let his blackish tongue leave his mouth and start to lap up the blood on her wounds.

"J-Jake…" she said lowly, blushing from him lapping her blood away, though she couldn't deny it felt good. Unfortunately it only for a few minutes before the coat of saliva covered the wounds enough and he was done.

"There yer good to go, but now we're farther than we're supposed to be" he said, sighing with annoyance. He sighed as he rubbed his head against hers "You _sure_ you ain't hurtin' anywhere else?" he asked, looking her in the eyes with a concerned tone in them.

"I'm sure Jake, really" she told him as she tried to think on how they could get back on track. DAMMIT! Why can't she become normal sized, it would make EVERYTHING that much more convenient!

"…What's wrong with that necklace of yers?" Jake asked, causing her to look at him questioningly before looking to her crystal pendant that was now glowing. She blinked before cupping it in her hand. It was warm to the touch and… it looked like there was a power swirling within it that was a golden light.

"I don't know… but I think there's something in it…" she told him, narrowing her eyes and concentrated on the light, but the feeling intensified and it glowed brighter; something was going to happen! "Jake let me go"

"What?"

"Let me go Jake! Please?" she asked, her eyes telling him that she really needed to have him let her go. He was confused, as you could tell on his face, but he sighed and let her go, still wondering why she wanted to. When she got out of his grip it was just in time for the light grew to engulf her body in a white goldish light before shrinking and then growing large. He had to shield his eyes with his rattler before it calmed down and…

"What the hell?"

"Huh? What are… you…" Claudia stopped as she noticed that she was standing WAY higher than Jake. "Jake… I'm normal sized again!" she exclaimed with happiness in her voice as she looked to him. Though he didn't look too thrilled

"I see, you could have told me that you could do that"

"I didn't know I could till now Jake… besides why are you so grumpy? That means we can get to my home faster!" she said. Claudia then got down and sat on the cliff, extending her arm "C'mon, I'm sure we can get there before the day ends" she offered. Jake snorted though and whispered to himself

"And to think I thought I got to keep you in my coils fer the rest of the way" he mumbled.

"Hm?"

"It's nothin'" he said before he slithered up her arm and then wrapped around her neck and shoulders.

"Alright, let's go then" she said with a confident smile before getting down the small cliff and then jogging towards where her home was. Feeling that this new form was going to help her save her little brother from a terrible fate.

* * *

**Author:** Yay another chapter up 8D Frankly I'm getting more and more excited as I get closer to the end of this fan fiction for the soul reason is because I already have in mind the sequel AND a "crossover" fan fiction with a fellow FF Author: SargesGrl12. I already have all (if not most) of the first chapter of the sequel done only because... well Jake and Claudia are a bit more lovey dovey in this fan fiction since they will have been together for about two years. (This also makes me realize just how little romance there is in this fan fiction) but that might have to wait till I'm done with the cross over fic but I'm not completely sure if it will be before or after the sequel so that's another thing to think about =/. Anyway hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next!


	13. Powerful Confession

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 13: Powerful Confession

**Author: **Ah shit I forgot to have Jake say something to Claudia in the last chapter… oh well guess that means he'll have to say it in this one xD So close… so close to the damn climax! I can feel it coming a few chapters away, I just have to

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

With Claudia in her larger form it didn't take half as long as it would have been normally for them to get to her house. But the silence and the emptiness of the now abandoned house was eerily and almost ghostly, it made her wonder if her parents would haunt this place for eternity after their brutal deaths. She was afraid that if she went in she would trigger a reaction from beyond the grave, but she had to, if she wanted to find keys to her parent's car then she would have to go inside and look for them herself.

"Ain't that lively of a place, huh?" Jake asked, though she didn't answer him, which he thought so since what he said was a bit inconsiderate to what happened. Especially since those bastards hurt her so much in this very place, this place that was supposed to be her shelter from harm. As they went through he realized just how ransacked this place looked, no doubt it was after her parents were killed and she and her brother were put into the circumstances the video had showed them earlier.

"I wonder where my parents put the keys to their car" she said to herself, ignoring what Jake said about the house. He looked to her to see that her face didn't have any particular emotion, it was just staring, and looking around as if everything was fine when it was evident it was not. When she got into another room he flicked his tongue out only to cringe; it smelled like something just died! Of course, when they emerged further the bodies of her parents were revealed, the bodies were covered in dry blood and slightly rotting as flies buzzed to lay their eggs within the slowly rotting flesh. Claudia put her hand over her face and closed her eyes; Jake could feel her quivering as she saw the dead corpses of her parents in front of her.

He looked to her, knowing it must've been hard for her to see her parents like this but couldn't really understand since he didn't care about his too much anymore. Still he felt the need to comfort her as he rubbed against her cheek but to not much avail. She breathed in and out through her mouth to calm herself before she was able to brave going past them and into another room. From the living room to the kitchen she searched the black and white marble countertops for the keys but didn't find them there. She then started to search the white cabinets and walls to see if they hid them somewhere… still to no avail.

"Not here…" she said, finally speaking after about twenty minutes of silence while she searched.

"Seems like tryin' to find these keys is like searchin' fer a damn needle in a haystack" Jake complained. Though she didn't say much since she was thinking about where they would be. She then had her eyes open wide as she realized where they would be located "What's wrong?" he asked

"Mom's… purse…" she said "I… think they might be in her purse" Jake looked disgruntled, if this was going to upset her then he didn't want her to go looking for those damn keys.

"Let me down" he said, causing her to look at him

"What?"

"Put me down woman, are you freakin' deaf?!" he asked

"But why?"

"Yer mama's purse is with her body right? I know you can't stand to see death especially that of yer parents, so I'll go get it" he told her. He thought he was being nice, but apparently to this stubborn woman, this was more of an insult.

"I can _so _stand to see death!" she told him "It's just hard to see my parents like that is all" she added. Jesus, what was her deal? He was being nice and all of a sudden she was biting his head off because of what he said. Granted he did say she couldn't stand to see it as he just assumed she couldn't since she was female and almost all females he met couldn't stand the thought of killing and death.

"That's not what I meant"

"Then what did you mean?" she asked, waiting for him to answer; he sighed as he couldn't believe they were having a conversation like this.

"That's not important right now, let me down and I'll go look for it" he said.

"No I will, I can look for it" she told him; his face hardened from what she said, he saw what she was like he didn't want her to feel like that again. "Don't give me that face Jake, I can handle it and I know what the car keys look like, why does it matter? I just need to tough it out!" she added.

"Cause I can't stand seein' you lookin' upset like that" he told her

"Then maybe you shouldn't have come with me" she told him back, not really getting at what he was actually getting at.

"Dammit it woman that is NOT what I meant! I mean it makes me unsettled to see you look that way!" he told to her, his head in front of her. "I can't stand the thought of somethin' scarin' you, makes me want to-" he started to say but stopped. "You know what, forget it, just get the damn keys" he said, obviously mad at her obliviousness that he actually had to explain it word for word. Well you couldn't blame her, she felt flushed towards him but the way he said it, it could have been an insult to her being tough and all.

"Jake…" she was going to say but… he wasn't looking at her, he just rested his head on his coils that was wrapped around her shoulders as his black hat covered his eyes… she could tell he was upset. If he was so mad why didn't he just leave? Well considering he cared a great deal about her he didn't want to leave her because then he wouldn't be able to protect her if he had to. Though if what she said was right then they should be able to get the keys and then go into the car and then drive into the city. So she went back just like he told her so, but when she got to the bodies… the purse was not there; but she swore she saw it! "Not here… then… where is it?!" she asked herself, causing Jake to lift his head a little to look and see that… no item that would be a purse was around her dead parents at all.

While looking around for her mother's purse, a car door being slammed could be heard, causing her to look up, her heart jumping for a moment. Out of curiosity she walked to the window to see that there were no cars outside, the neighborhood was quiet and still… like everyone was in silence ever since her parents died. The noise, to tell you the truth, seemed to come from the garage that was right next to the house… and even though she didn't want to… even though it may be a ghost… she had to look, her curiosity wanting to be satisfied. Jake didn't have any objections, though he did lift his head up a little, hat still overshadowing one of his eyes and looking alert. When she was at the door she breathed in and out deeply before opening the door and quickly flicking the light switch.

The light flickered for a moment before becoming fully on and revealing the messy garage that a red Toyota sit in the heap of. Her eyes looked around to see if she could spot anything before slowly descending and walking to the car, heart beating fast. Jake frequently let his tongue flick out of his mouth, always sensing to see if there was anything in there other than a spider or something. There was nothing so far so she went on the other side… to where the driver's seat was and looked around before turning her attention to the window before freezing, her breath ceasing to make a movement. This caused Jake to whip his head to see what was wrong only to see a smudged handprint on the window… and he swore it wasn't there before. Her chest started to go up and down quickly and panic was starting to override her senses.

He hated this, he hated those damn keys, searching for them was getting her scared and worked up! But she grew a backbone and actually attempted to open the door… only to feel that it was locked

"Oh God…" she said "That means I need the spare…" she said. Jake still hadn't said anything, not quite over her obliviousness earlier. "…..which is in the basement" she said and, thus, caused him to constrict and tense up; he didn't want her down there, not after what those bastards did to her down there. She knew he didn't want her to go, but if they were going to get out of there then she was going to have to go down and get the keys. So, even with Jake being tenser and tenser around her neck, kept going to where the basement was because that was where they were, down there. When she was at the door she was about to grab the knob but a coil went around her arm, constricting it greatly and causing her to wince. "Jake, let go of me" she commanded, he didn't say anything, only constricting harder, the blood getting harder to get into her arm. "Jake! Let go!" she commanded again, but he didn't say anything, just squeezed harder "Dammit all knock it off you're hurting me!" she cried, causing him to grunt and shift his body, making her lose balance and hit her back against the door. "Ow…" she whimpered a little and looking up Jake's eyes were staring into her own, causing her to look a bit frightened like the first time they had met. His body was now sprawled on hers, his head up to her eye level.

"W-what?" she asked, but he didn't really answer "Jake at least answer me" she said but he didn't say anything even though his face seemed to be expecting something. "What do you want me to say? Is this about going into the basement? You KNOW I have to go in there, we can't use the car if we don't" she whined. He snorted disapprovingly; dear God he was giving her the silent treatment… was this from earlier? "Jake can you at least say why you won't talk to me?" she asked him. "Is it because of earlier with my statement? Well I'm sorry if I sounded rude you made it sound like I was weak!" she told him.

"….Do you know… how damn much you mean to me?" he muttered, causing her to look at him with a cocked head.

"W-what did you… say?" she asked, causing his head to look up at her, both eyes looking into her own

"Do you know how damn MUCH you mean to me?!" he asked, causing her to jolt a little. "I cannot STAND to think that yer goin' to go down there in that damned place where them bastards TORTURED you for God knows HOW long" he cried. "I don't want you goin' down there, I don't want you bein' in that place where you were hurt so badly, to relive those damned moments" he said, starting to quiet down. He was looking down now, away from those pretty, no, beautiful blue eyes of hers "I rather you just sit here and be safe… with me" he said, hat covering up his face that is now being a bit red. He couldn't believe how sappy he was being, but he was being truthful to her, and that was all that mattered in his eyes. His coils went tight around her waist, which made her confirm to herself that Jake… he…

"Jake… are you trying to say-" she was about say before scaly lips silenced her own as his body intertwined with hers a little bit, as if he was embracing her in this motion. She closed her eyes, accepting it and savoring it before the lips parted and her eyes went to his

"I love you, you damned woman and I'd kill anyone who would ever try to get in the way of that feelin'" he said softly. A silence went between them, a very awkward one that caused her to be struck with shy silence but… eventually she did speak up.

"Well… I have to admit you're quite the charmer, especially when you were trying to kill me" she said "But… I can't deny that… I… I have…. The same feelings….. too" she said, blushing and looking away. She finally admitted it. SHE ADMITED THAT SHE HAD FALLEN IN LOVE WITH HIM and that… was the greatest thing Jake had ever heard in his whole life, which caused him to chuckle.

"Good, cause even if you didn't I'd still make you mine" he said, before he used his rattler to turn her head towards him and going back to his lips and kissing her again, and this time her kissing back. They kissed for a while, before a howl interrupted, causing Jake to sharply look around, putting his body in front of hers so that he could protect her from whatever might be around. But she noticed that the howl wasn't coming from anywhere to the sides but… below where she was sitting! It caused her to look down; the floorboard creaking under her weight as well as hearing… whispers that most wouldn't be able to hear unless they listened really closely. She felt it bend; the floor beneath her was bending!

"J-Jake!" she gasped, causing him to look to her "Th-the floor, I think it's giving in-!" she said, trying to move, but that only made things worse since the wood started cracking

"Calm down woman, don't put too much pressure!" he cried trying to direct her from doing anything stupid. But it was too late, the floorboards cracked even more and before they both knew it they started to descend below. Claudia, as best as she could, put her arms over Jake after he curled up his body, not caring to protect her own head since his life was more precious to her point of view. She could only think that just right when they confessed to one another they were going to die before the darkness swallowed the both of them into the abyss.

* * *

Jake groaned as his body felt stiff and sore, something he hadn't felt since he started to train himself to become stronger and more foreboding. But this was different, he was bundled up in something… something soft and smooth and… fleshy…..!

"Claudia!" he gasped, realizing that she had wrapped him in her arms before they fell. He shifted as much as he could to look over to where her face would be and, thankfully thanks to the hall light from above, he could see her closed, sleeping face. She was breathing softly, meaning she was still alive, thank God! Shifting himself a little bit free Jake went closer to her face '_God dammit… why does she have to be so God damned beautiful…_' he thought to himself as he raised his rattler as much as he could and used it to touch her face softly. He then smirked before patting his rattler on her face "Alright woman, rise and shine" he said, trying to get her to wake up. She groaned and then coughed a few times before finally fluttering her eyes open; it caused him to think on how cute she was and couldn't resist kissing her lips "Mornin' sunshine" he said with a small chuckle.

"Very funny" she said in a sarcastic tone before coughing again; it caused him to smile, but that went away when he realized that they had fallen onto the ground, meaning that she actually might be hurt somewhere.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked as she sat up

"No… not really" she said; in fact she didn't feel much, if any, pain at all, she felt just fine

"I'll be the judge of that" he said before slithering out of her arms and slithering all around her body, that made her blush, this was even more embarrassing than when she was small and he was rubbing her to 'check' for wounds and such. He flicked his tongue out periodically so that he could sniff out any blood that may be pouring out of some wound she made from the fall. Even though he didn't see her face he was sure he was making her blush like crazy, especially when his body went over her chest, which was actually something he REALLY liked. But when he was done he didn't smell or feel anything that could have been damaged so she was alright, thank God. "Well seems like yer fine" he said, part of his body wrapping around her neck before nuzzling it with his nozzle, which made her face heat up.

"J-Jake, s-stop please" she said she said, he could tell she was trying to suppress a sort of moan by the shortness of breath she had in speaking. This gave him a devilish grin on his face

"Stop? Uh no I can't stop there, sunshine, not when I know where yer sensitive~" he said before he start to nibble below her jaw line, trying to find that little spot of soft flesh.

"Jake, you can't d-do this! W-we have to find the car keys and-ah-!" she started to say when a moan accidently came out; jackpot~! He found it, right where he thought it was and now he was going to start licking and nipping at it, he wanted another moan to escape from her lips. "Jake _PLEASE _stop!" she cried, gently pulling his neck and head away from her throat, which made the outlaw look might displeased. "You know this is not the right time and p-place for that" she said, she was still blushing at something as intimate as that suddenly happening to her. "Please… maybe after all this is over and done we can have time to ourselves for this… but we've wasted enough time as it is" she said to him. He snorted, still unhappy she ruined his fun even if she was right, God dammit he wanted to be all over her right now!

"Fine, but you _owe _me later" he said as he put the rest of his body on her shoulders, letting her get the chance to actually stand up and look around. She was in the middle of a room she couldn't see well, but by what she felt on her feet, it wasn't the second living room that had carpet. Then there was only one room in the whole house that was under the first floor… the room Jake didn't want her to be in the first place. Nonetheless she walked around until she was able to find a light switch and flick it on, reveal it was, indeed, the room that damned ritual was put upon her. "Let's get out of here, I don't want you in this damned place" he said, his face scrunched up from the disgusting smell of blood, _her_ blood, in the room.

Even if he didn't say that she still would have left; nodding to Jake before turning the light off and going into the second family room. On the carpet there were droplets of blood on the floor from both the chalice and her sword is what he guessed. But that didn't matter, once she found those keys they were going to get out of this cursed place and never return! Then he can have some alone time with her after they rescue that brat of a brother of hers. "So where are these keys at?" he asked her

"Not really sure, mom and dad said they were down here but… they never told me _specifically _where they would be" she said. She looked around, wondering what possessed her parents to not tell her where they were at and didn't they think something similar to what has happened now would have happened?! Well either way, once they looked long enough it would be eventually found and then they could get out of the house and into the city to get to her brother. She thought about it for a while on how they could search, and then she got an idea… sort of

"Hey Jake" she said

"Hm?"

"I know this might be weird in saying this but… do you think that maybe you can talk to some of the critters here and ask if they had seen a key around here?" she asked. He looked to her like she was crazy

"You can't be serious woman, all I've smelt in this damn place are spiders… and let's just say our kind don't mix very well" he said. "Why don't you talk to them?" he asked, wondering why she didn't want to do it herself, she looked away a bit nervously.

"I can't… stand to be around them… every time I see one I either want to kill it or leave the room and never return" she admitted. Oh he got it now, she was one of those humans who were scared of spiders and usually killed them on sight; not that he complained just made his life a lot damn easier. Still, he couldn't help but tease her about it

"You? A creature TEN TIMES bigger than them, is _scared_?! Who knew humans were such wusses!" he said with a laugh, rattling his tail some. She looked very displeased though

"So WHAT?! They run around on eight legs, are fast and some are even deadly, of COURSE we're frightened of them!" she whined.

"But you see, little missy, we're more afraid of you than you are of us. I mean you DO try to squash us every time ya see us" said a third and unknown voice. The both of them looked over to see, on a desk, a brown recluse spider sitting on the desk and watching them, safe to say Claudia almost had a heart attack on seeing it. She had seen brown recluse spiders a lot since her mom constantly killed them around the house, and she knew they were poisonous too. Jake could feel her freeze and hardened his glance at the creature

"Whatddaya want ya igit?!" he asked wanting him to speak quick since he felt a bit threatened. The spider held two of his 'hands' up, meaning that he didn't mean any harm

"W-woah there I'm not tryin' to start trouble. I heard y'all talkin' about how yer lookin' fer a key and all… and I could help ya out a little" he said. With the friendly gesture and attitude Claudia calmed down somewhat, she was so glad she could talk to animals now… if not she'd be freaking out still.

"H-help out? You mean you might have seen the key we've been looking for?" she asked, oh thank God it looks like they'd find it sooner than she thought they would.

"Sure, them keys are in the drawer over here" he said using a let to point to it. It caused her to come over in an instant and look to the drawer. Bending down she attempted to open it but it was stuck fast… no it was locked because her father was always paranoid of their stuff getting stolen.

"Oh great it's locked and I don't know where the damn keys are for it" she said, causing both her and Jake to sigh at the inconvenience.

"Well I could give it a shot, I ain't too bad at handlin' locks ya know" the spider said.

"Alright… go ahead" she offered, letting him go down into the lock and try to lock pick it so that its contents may be open. For a few minutes they stood there, waiting for the lock to unlock… finally there was a _click_ and the spider came out, still freaking her out a little but not too much "Thank you" she said, waiting for him to get out of the way before opening it up. There was a thick key with a black handle that had the typical Toyota emblem on it that she recognized in a heartbeat. "Okay I have it, thank you… and I'm sorry for me and my family stepping on you all… communication is very limited" she apologized

"It's alright little missy, can't do too much when most humans can't understand us" he said, causing her to look at him oddly.

"…most?" she asked, though by the time she asked he was already gone, causing her to sigh

"Okay, we have the damn key, now let's get goin'!" Jake said, causing her to nod and run upstairs, turning out the lights, getting over the hole and to the car. When she came back the hand print was gone… which freaked her out but there was not time to be, so she unlocked the car, moved her mom's purse over and turned the car on. Multiple times she insisted Jake get into the back but he was being stubborn and moved himself to her waist, he wasn't going to let go of her… which caused her to sigh nonetheless. But now they were on the road and towards the city and that much closer to saving her brother… finally, FINALLY she'd be able to see him again and getting him away from those freaks!

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**Author:** FINALLY I get this done! God this chapter was such a son of a bitch in the early stages cause I didn't know what to do with so little to work with, BUT I DID IT! Now the next place will be the city YAY WE'RE ALMOST DONE JUST A FEW MORE CHAPTERS! I think it'll end around Chap. 16 if I'm right but I could be wrong, either way I'm excited. Also this is probably a little late but I think Jake's new and constant nickname, other than Woman, will be Sunshine... cause she's the sun in his dreary life 8D. And I have decided the crossfiction with **SargesGrl12** will be after this one but JUST before the sequel starts =3. So I'll be working on that one next~


	14. Unexpected Company

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 14: Unexpected Company

**Author: **Welp now things are going to start getting intense since Claudia and Jake are in the City now, let's just pray that they can save her little brother in time!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

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Driving through the city in her mother's car was one thing, but trying to find the building was another problem all together. The city was pretty big; it was going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack! But she needed to be quick, it had been at least a week since she last saw her brother and in that week she was so afraid that he had to go through so many terrible things. Jake looked up to see her troubled face, something he did not like to see at all considering it made him troubled to see her troubled.

"What're you thinkin'?" Jake asked, wanting to know what was on her mind

"I have no idea where the building is… and I don't know the name of it either, which is something that I wish we did have" she told him. She didn't really like being unprepared, it made her more nervous than normal getting her tied up about losing her way. As she drove she felt Jake rub his head against hers, trying to comfort her in some way, it made her smile, happy to know that he was trying to make her feel better. She then felt him peck her on the cheek before he spoke

"Don't worry about it, sunshine, yer gonna find it; just keep lookin'" he told her.

"Sunshine? Where did that come from?" she asked, causing him to chuckle

"What you don't like it?" he asked

"N-no that's not it… just wondering is all since you started calling me it all of a sudden" she said to him. He smiled at her and rubbed against her face again

"Why not? Yer my little sunshine in this cold dark life of mine, you should be referred as so" he told her. "And yer MY sunshine, nothin' can take yer shine away from my life, and if somethin' tries, I'll personally take care of it" he said, making a motion with his rattler going across his neck; indicating he will kill those who would take her away from him. Somehow she found that humorous since she chuckled before looking back on the road, but as the minutes turned into hours Claudia started to get less nervous and more frustrated. Eventually she stopped at a Hotel parking lot and sighed, sitting there looking the most frustrated Jake had ever seen her (besides being kept in her room for most of her stay in Mud).

"This is such bullshit! You'd think a BIG RED building would be the easiest thing to look for!" she cried, her anger getting the best of her. Jake, feeling agitated himself for the love of his life feeling the same, rubbed against her cheek to make them both feel better.

"Yer lettin' all of this get to you, you need to loosen' up" he told her as his body went around her shoulders before they started to move with enough force to move her shoulder muscles…. He was giving her a message… this realization caused her to blush

"J-Jake, stop!" she told him, getting a bit embarrassed that not only was he moving around her shoulders… but it was kind of making her shirt fall on one side, exposing her bare skin. But he smiled, liking the reaction he was getting

"What? I ain't doin' anythin' to you, sunshine, just givin' a nice rub" he told her before he extended his neck so that his head would be near her ear. "Unless you WANT me to do MORE than just rubbin' yer shoulders~~" he whispered in a deep and seducing tone that made her tingle all over. This was added by the fact his coils loosely went to her lower sleeve and pulled it down more while licking her ear.

"S-stop Jake, th-this is not funny!" she whined, her face red and hot since her body had some sort of turned on reaction she wanted him to do more, but at the same time she didn't. In her dreams she could never (most time anyway) control her sexual urges, this caused her to worry that she might not be able to control them in the real world too.

"Why? It's pretty obvious how much you want it~" he said, licking her ear again while his rattler slowly went under her chin and stroking it, causing shivers to run up her spine. He wanted to hear it, he wanted to hear that seductive moan come out of her mouth again that moan that made his body excited with the very thought, the one that caused him to want to mate with her even more. It caused him to try and pull her shirt down more and started to nip at her ear; he wanted her, he wanted her so MUCH his body ACHED to tangle his body with hers and mate right then and there.

"Ja-ake" she whimpered, trying to pull him off her but his coils wrapped around her arms tightly. He could tell she was on the verge of moaning and God dammit was he going to get her to do it too. He didn't care about her brother hell he didn't care about the WORLD; he wanted to have sex with the love of his life and there was nothing that was going to fucking stop it! Or so he thought for when he started to slide and wiggle his rattler in her chest area a loud bang was heard in the back of the car. Immediately Jake stopped and looked towards the back with a serious and protective look on his face as if he wasn't trying to mate with Claudia just a few moments ago.

"Who's there?!" Jake cried, being intimidating and demanding to whoever was in the car with them and the fact that they might harm Claudia. "Show yerselves!" he cried, unwrapping a great deal from around her and going towards the back of the car

"C'mon out, we know you're there!" she called, thinking that maybe they only understood human language in case it was a human. There was another shuffling, causing Jake to hiss with irritation before slithering over to where it was, to the trunk of the car. "Jake, please be careful!" she told him, though he didn't make any indication that he had heard her as he slunk into the trunk to face whatever intruder dared to hide themselves when he was around. There were some crashes and voices that she could barely make out along with hissing and rattling that caused her to be worried. So she crawled from her seat and to the back to see what was going on, when she peered down Jake had something flailing in his coils.

"What in all the hells are you DOIN' here, sheriff?!" Jake asked with a growl in her voice since he didn't expect the chameleon to be in the back.

"I-I don't know myself, Jake!" he cried, trying not to get the snake more pissed off than he already was "Me and some of the locals in Mud wanted to help ya out… you know fer all the stuff you've been goin' through but it was hard to try and catch up when you were ahead of us already. Then, all of a sudden this woman in all white appeared before us and said she could help us out. Of course I was suspicious at first and questioned her motives…" he started to day before going on about this woman and how he 'acted' with her and how the conversation went, even though it wasn't very interesting to listen to.

"Git to the point, sheriff!" Jake ordered him, squeezing him a bit, causing him to gag

"Jake be nice" Claudia said with a sigh, causing Rango to look up at her before back to Jake

"A-anyway we agreed to have some help gettin' to you and all of a sudden we were in a light and fell here!... I was so near with fright I accidently shot off my gun..hehe…" he said with a nervous laugh. Jake looked at him for a second, still a bit skeptical at what he was telling him

"That sounds like Selena-sama… but not that it matters at all. Jake he and them came to HELP there shouldn't be any reason to get mad at them" she told him. It caused the outlaw to grumble before letting the lizard go, mostly angry because the sheriff happened to cut into his 'mating time'… which was the real reason he was mad at him.

"Much obliged Jacob" he said, tipping his hat to him and causing the snake to growl a little before slithering up the seat and around Claudia again. It caused the green reptile to look up at her and smiled nervously, waving at her "W-well hi there Miss Claudia… gotten quite a growth spurt didn't ya?" he asked, causing her to chuckle.

"Kind of, this is my normal size if you can believe it" she told him, which she was sure he was aware of but it didn't hurt to tell him since… well since it was true. And with her 'booming voice' (it was a bit louder for other animals to hear) the inhabitants of Mud that wanted to come help came from the various belongings that were scattered through the trunk. She was glad Rango didn't come alone but she often wondered if it was safe since… well since she had a whole lot of animals in her trunk that would freak any normal human out.

"Oh I sure can Miss Claudia" Rango said with another nervous smile before he looked up at her; he looked a little nervous since Jake was right with her, meaning that if he even looked the wrong way at her he would be on him just like that. "But mind tellin' me why you stopped? I mean… aren't you supposed to be drivin' this here machine?" he asked, even though he knew what it was.

"I'm resting, trying to keep myself from going insane with not knowing where the hell to go" she said with a sigh. "I need to find the building my brother is in but I can't find it, it's like I'm never going to find it in this clusterfuck of a city".

"Don't'cha have them fancy shmancy thingamagigs that help ya find what yer lookin' fer?" asked Spoons, making her think about what he may have meant. Her eyes then lit up as she remembered something

"That's right! I think my mom had my laptop in here at some point cause she needed it for work on Monday" she said. She then lifted herself over the seat more and looked over the items in the back to try and look for something familiar. "Oh there it is" she said as she saw the black bag that cushioned her machine whenever it was going places. She reached for it and, while taking the handle, thought about how the animals were going to get out from the back. "Why don't you guys grab on? I'm sure it must not be too pleasant to be in the back since you can't really see anything" she told them. It only took a moment before they grabbed on the bag as much as they could before she lifted it and moved it beside her. When they were off she unzipped the bag and pulled out the Asus laptop that was lying inside.

The people from Mud were amazed at the machine and weren't quite sure what to make of it, but they did compliment on how futuristic it was and that it was kind of neat. Claudia just shrugged as she booted up the computer and waited for it to get to its usual screen with the Windows logo lighting up in the middle of the black screen. But instead a whole set of numbers and words came up, which meant that something was wrong… and since she didn't have ANY idea what to do, she looked for the manual that her mother brought with the bag since her mom always said to bring it wherever it went.

"Is… is it supposed to be doin' that sort of stuff?" Waffles asked, causing her to shake her head in reply

"No, it's supposed to start up with this logo but it looks like something is wrong… my mom may have accidently crashed it, or it crashed on its own. Either way…" she said, going through the book for the machine "I need to see what's wrong and then enter the code according to what the manual says" she finished. She looked through the book as the animals gathered around her, causing Jake to hiss and rattle his tail; making most of them stand back. Considering how possessive he was of her he didn't like them gathering around HIS mate like that "Don't be rude Jake" she said plainly as she went through the book.

He hissed with irritation but he didn't say anything other than that since he knew he couldn't help what she felt and that the other animals were too afraid of him anyway to get too close to her. "Finally here it is" she said as she found the page where it had some diagrams of what looked like the screen currently on the monitor and human lettering that none of the animals could read nor understand. "Kay then I just have to write this whole thing in and the computer will be back to its former self~" she said before putting the manual next to her. There was a paragraph with a long list of words that didn't make much sense to them but it seemed like she just had to copy them. She cracked her knuckles and then stretched them before putting her fingers on the keys before her fingers went to dance on the keyboard.

"My word!" Ambrose said as the other animals were gapping at the fact how she was able to type so fast, to command her fingers to go on certain keys and letters in a specific order. The words were going down the screen that copied exactly what was in the manual; it looked so complicated that some of the animals were getting headaches. She could feel Jake's head up against her neck, but he seemed to just be lying against it then trying to do anything funny, so she ignored it; she was sure he didn't want to see this sort of thing anyway since he didn't care for modern technology.

In fact he was just lying against her neck, he was a bit tired out and the words that didn't make any sense to him started to give him a headache. He closed his eyes and propped his head against her neck and body around her shoulders, waiting for this to be all done and over with. Also with everything he was tired out and wanted to rest… and being around her caused him to get warm and sleepy and as long as she was safe he could rest easy. She looked down to him and smiled, thinking it was cute he was resting like that but didn't say anything as she finished up writing all the codes down for the computer.

"There we go, now I can get busy" she said as she got the computer up, running and searching for what she was looking for. She heard Jake hiss and rub up against her a little, causing her to rub back a little with a smile before going on the web to search for that red building. It didn't take her too long to get Wi-Fi from some place and then put down a description of the building even though that was harder than she thought it would be. It looked like the cultists did well to hide their information and if there were anything about them you had to have some code or password to get into the sites… which was annoying.

"Thought it would be a bit easier than this" she commented as she went through Google to try and use other key words to get things to come up, but it wasn't working very easily. Since she knew that it was going to be impossible searching on the web she decided to go with the alternative and actually use the map system so the satellites could pick it up. She had just about given up an hour and a half of searching as she sighed and looked at the screen with not much luck in finding what she wanted to do. The animals, while she was looking, went to explore the confines of the car and made sure not to mess with anything that looked like they might get in trouble for, leaving Jake and her alone for the most part.

"Urmph… havin' trouble sunshine?" Jake asked with a tired voice since he had been napping for the last hour and a half.

"Yea… I'm so terrible at finding things it seems" she told him with a sigh; it made him lift his head up sleepily before pecking at her lips a little. "Have a good nap?" she asked

"It was a bit nice, would have been the best if you were in my coils though" he commented before rubbing his rattler against her cheek. "Just relax sunshine, rest yer eyes… want me to help~?" he asked. Even though he was sleepy with that smile on his face she knew that he would really try that again

"Jake, you're not going to do THAT with the others here, besides I just can't give up, I need to find the building!" she told him.

"You mean that thar buildin' right there?" Pricilla's voice asked, causing the girl to look down to see the young mouse on the laptop and pointing at the screen. Claudia leaned forward to look where the young mouse was pointing and saw that there was a red rectangle to a place that was a few blocks from where she was. She used the mouse pad to zoom in and, sure enough, the picture showed the building that was red and was mostly one story save for the back, which was like small dome. And right there, on the side was the snake emblem that was with those damn cultists; FINALLY.

"Pricilla, darling, you're a genius!" she said with a smile, excited that it was finally time for her to get going and find her baby brother. "Alright so it's on…" she said, tracing the street and the number before closing the laptop, much to the surprise of most of the people in the car. "It's time to go now, I know where my brother is" she said as she then started to get up and then climb to where she was sitting before, trying hard not to accidently step on anyone on her way. When she got into the grey leather seat she put her seatbelt on and put the car into gear before driving to where it was. It only took about ten minutes and when she drove up to it the feeling of abandonment was in the air, something she didn't like.

"Not too lively is it? I'd say it's almost a ghost town" Rango said as he got up to look out the windshield, to see the building silent as the wind blew, causing it to sound like it was moaning.

"I don't doubt that they don't come out in the open since this building is supposed to be abandoned… I mean even the symbol is faded…" she said before she opened the door and got out of the car. The animals soon followed and there they were; one human girl and a slew of small animals -save for Jake- were in front of a small building. It seemed like it was a case of Snow White since she got along with animals but… they were going against cultists that had strange magics, they had to be careful though… "I have to say… we don't look very menacing" she said with a sigh.

"Well what do ya expect? Most creatures here don't know nothin' about bein' intimidatin', they should've just stayed home" Jake said with a snort.

"What and leave the two of you to go against these vermin by yerselves? Sorry but no can do there" Rango said to them. She smiled to him though she frowned

"Still if you guys really want to help there needs to be a way for you guys to be up to par with humans… something that you guys would be able to get a fair fighting chance" she said, thinking on what to do. She didn't want them to get hurt and some animals going against full grown half human half demon people was not a good idea.

"Crystal" was the single word Wounded Bird said, causing her to look at the Native American-like bird blinking in confusion because she wasn't sure what he meant by crystal since it was just a necklace. "It have magic; growing magic" he added, causing to give her more of an insight of why he mentioned it, causing her to look at it. She had been rubbing it with her hands out of habit and didn't notice that it started to glow that white-goldish color like it did when she turned back to her normal size.

"Okay… I think I got it" she said to herself, knowing what she could with it but wasn't sure how to go about it in a way that would not take too much time. She walked over to an empty space on the cracked pavement and got on her knees before taking her necklace off and holding it by the crystal. The light grew and expanded, making it kind of like a mini brush made of light. She then moved her body forward and drew a large circle that glowed in the outside lines, like a child who was drawing with a piece of chalk. When she was done she sat there and pointed to the circle while looking at the animals "Every one, gather into the circle" she commanded.

At first they weren't sure but with Rango going towards and inside that circle the others soon followed, muttering something about magic and it was 'Witchcraft', which she didn't care for. She wasn't sure how this was going to work but she figured she try considering that growing magic could be in her pendant and, thus, she could, maybe, get them to grow and have a fighting chance for whoever could be waiting for them inside. "Jake, you too" she told him, looking down to the outlaw, causing him to snap his neck to her

"Why should I do down there with them?" he asked

"Because I want you to grow too Jake, that way you can protect me better" she told him. He would have objected but she was right, if he wanted to protect her he was going to have to get to the same level of humans. So she let him down as he curled in the middle since people parted when he entered, flicking his tongue and savoring the taste and smell of fear coming from them, which caused him to smile. "Now bear with me guys, this is a first time thing" she told them as she put her crystal out in front of her and towards the circle. She closed her eyes and squeezed the stone slightly before the light grew brighter on it at the same time the circle did until, eventually, the light on the circle shot up and then wrapped around the animals like a blanket and expanding. When she opened her eyes again she stepped back as the animals were now around human size… save for Jake who was a lot bigger.

"Amazin'…" Beans said as she looked at herself. Pretty much it was like when she was in the animal world size wise… except they were in her world this time.

"Um… well welcome to the Human world guys" she said with a bit of nervousness though she was sure they were happy to visit it. "Anyway now that you guys are up to par, for the most part, we can go and look around" she said as she started to go into the building, but not without Jake by her side.

"Don't get too excited, go too far on yer own and yer goin' to get yerself in trouble that I rather not have to deal with" he told her with a bit of a stern look. Since there were other people he didn't want them to figure out that she and he were together, finally, and were mates. He would tell them eventually but for now he didn't want them to know; besides it wasn't important for them to know right now, worrying about finding her brother and all. But Rango had already figured them out, or at least Jake's feelings, he never really saw HER get all protective and lovey with him… then again he hadn't seen her too much either. But right now her brother was all they had as a top priority

"Alright everyone, keep yer eyes open and yer weapons close, we're goin' into enemy territory after all" the sheriff said, causing the rest of the animals following him. The inside was kind of dead; it was deserted with dust on covering everything along with broken windows and glass around the floor. This confused the lot of them since this was the HQ of the cultists, why would they be in a dump?

"If I had to guess they might be not using the TOP of the building but down in the darkness of the basement" Claudia said. She heard some murmurs but she didn't pay that much attention, if they didn't want to go then they didn't have to; she wasn't going to force them. She knew that even if none of them wanted to go Jake would still stay by her side because of how much he loved her.

"Why would they want to do that?" she heard Waffles ask, causing her to grimice a little; Jake, Rango, Beans and Bird all knew why. Poor ignorant Waffles had no idea

"Because of the rituals they love to perform" she simply said a bit angrily. She felt a slight nudge from next to her and knew it was Jake, he didn't like those bastards either; they were his number one enemy forever.

"Well we can't be too careful, perhaps we should split up and cover more ground"

"If we did that then if any of you all went against the cultists you'll get fucked over" Claudia told him. "We should get to the basement and see what's down there, strength is in numbers after all" she added. Event thought it seemed to be rude they all knew she was only person who knows them well enough… also these cultists were half human half demon… only person who could fight against them would be another of their kind. And it actually didn't take long to find the entrance to the basement, it had that same snake symbol on it and it was located to where the basement would be. She went over and jiggled the silver knob, but it wouldn't budge so she did it harder but still nothing, eventually she started to use her body, banging it against the door, but that didn't work either. "Who knew doors were so fucking stubborn!" she said with irritation, stomping it with her foot.

"That ain't nothin' too hard, stand aside woman" Jake said, causing the girl to look at him before moving away from the door. It only took a moment for him to raise his rattler before hitting it against the door. It didn't cave in at first since it was metal, but eventually it got so damaged it flew off its hinges and into the darkness below.

"Way to go, I'm sure they heard that and know that we're here" Claudia told him, though he just rolled his eyes before they continued to move forward into the basement of the building. After a few minutes the stairs ended and they came to a long and wide hallway that had doors to different rooms.

"Alright, looks like we've got somethin' to go on. I say we split into groups and check the doors for any clues" Rango said. He gathered everyone around, aside from her and Jake, as he told who was going to be with who and where they could start. She didn't really care as she went towards the door down at the end of the hallway considering it was the most prominent, but Jake wasn't that far behind as he came up from behind her and curled around her a little.

"Where are you goin'? Ain't too smart to go off by yerself" he told her, nudging his head against her "I know yer worried about yer brother, but you can't go by yerself, what if somethin' happened to you?" he asked.

"I don't want to insult them, but they can't stand up against half demons, I am the only one able and you know that!" she said. He wrapped more around her

"I don't care, yer not goin' without me sunshine… I ain't goin' to lose you, yer my sunshine and I rather die than let somethin' take you away" he said to her. He kissed her, trying to get his feelings across "Don't make me have to break yer legs to keep you from doin' something stupid" he said, half teasing and half not.

"Jake I know you want to protect me, but there are some things that you can't protect me from"… that was something he didn't want to hear.

"Bullshit! Anythin' that even THINKS to harm a hair on yer head answers to me! And then I'll drag their soul down to hell before they could even _think_ about lookin' at you!" he cried to her. He squeezed her protectively, but she got out of his grip since he wasn't tightly wound around her for… reasons that he didn't want people to see her in his coils.

"You can't protect me from EVERYTHING Jake" she told him as she got to the door and opened it "Don't delude yourself from thinking that or else you'll get killed!" she said, mad that he would do something so rash. She swung the door open and walked inside, causing Jake to slither after her until he was right behind her body… though something was wrong; she was just standing there.

"Now listen here sunshine… sunshine?" Jake started to say when he realized she wasn't saying anything, he prodded her with his tail but all he heard was muttering. Eventually he looked over to see what made her stop and froze himself.

Before them was a young boy chained on his wrists up on the wall, his body with dirt and blood all over his skin with messy brown hair. There was blood mostly coming from his back and a pentagram on the floor before his hanging figure that did not have regular colored skin, but coal black.

"…Jacob…"

* * *

**Author:** Well I finally got this up and I'm happy x3. Is it just me or is my Jake also been trying to get it on with Claudia ever since they admitted they loved each other? I mean I know animals do that when they fall in love but dammit she is used to being a human! Also YES I have a cliffhanger... kind of xD But anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and give me reviews!


	15. Forever Lost

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 15: Forever Lost

**Author: **YES WE ARE ALMOST DONE ABOUT ONE (maybe two) CHAPTER(S) TO GOOOO. I'm really excited you guys, I can't wait to get to the end of this 8D. Also I think this is going to go into a trilogy series considering I have both the sequel and then the midquel (the crossover). I thought about combing both buuuuut I'm not sure if I want to do that, I'm still thinking though.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

Small tears went down her face as her chest rapidly went up and down at the scene in front of her. Jacob, her baby brother, was being hung by chains and suspended in the air with blood and dirt all over him. It looked like he hadn't been fed since his ribcage could almost be seen in detail under his skin. She now felt totally horrible; how long had he been in that state? How much suffering had he gone through?! Nevertheless, she couldn't help but run to him, calling his name loudly as she got to where he was hanging.

"Jacob! C'mon speak to me! You're big sister is here; wake up! JACOB" she cried, shaking his body with her hands and trying to get him to open his eyes. Jake could only sit there and watch as his love tried to make the boy wake up, but it didn't seem to do any good at all. Even the others from Mud, who were searching the place, came to see what was going on and saw the skeletal boy who was getting shook by his older sister.

"Is that…" Rango started as he stood next to the outlaw

"Her brother" Jake said, finishing the chameleon's sentence "That's her little brother right there" he added softly with no particular emotion on his face or in his voice. Beans came up next to Rango with a worried look on her face, feeling bad that Claudia found her brother in that way. As they stood there Claudia was trying to look for a way to get him down, afraid on how long he had been through this trial and if it had overtaken him or not. She looked to the chains and thought of cutting them… but she realized just how short she was from them and couldn't even reach them much less cut them effectively with her sword.

Jake saw this and came up behind and under her, letting her sit on top of his black hat as he lifted his neck up so that she was at the chains themselves. She didn't say anything but with what her brother was like right then he wouldn't doubt that she had him on her mind and that was her main focus. He could hear her take out her sword before banging it against the chains that held her brother. Her body was vibrating with the rhythm, putting pressure on his head that was up and down, up and down. But he didn't mind, she was trying to free her brother, it was understandable that she was trying to set him free.

As she was working on that Jake could feel the presences of the room were getting smaller, no doubt not wanting to make a comment and would rather leave her in peace. It was always hard to see someone whom you loved just strung up like that. Claudia almost died once in front of him, and he HATED feeling what he did when he saw her go down like that, it was horrible… so he could kind of see how she felt.

"I'll leave y'all alone fer now, we're goin' to gather everyone at the entrance after you're done with gettin' the young man down" Rango said. By the time he said it everyone had left the room and dispersed through the basement to leave them alone for now. Jake didn't say anything but he heard the lizard leave the room, causing the both of them to be alone again, which he didn't mind at all he loved being with her when they were alone, they could do all sorts of things! But now was not the time, her younger brother was on her mind and he was going to try his best to help her, even though he didn't care about the brother too much. But it was just a matter of time before the banging stopped, causing his eyes to look up… even though he couldn't really see through his hat. Nevertheless he put his head down to let her off before he looked at her with a look of worry since she couldn't do what she wanted.

"Sunshine, don't give up, yer goin' to get 'em down you just gotta think" he told her, rubbing his nozzle against her head. "And I'm here, we'll find a way to get yer brother down and help him out, trust me" he said to her, trying to make her feel better. Her head lay on his nozzle seemingly exhausted, frustrated, and sad because of all of this; all he could do was wrapping around her and comfort her.

"Jake…" she whimpered, sounding like she was pain and starting to crack under everything that had been thrown at her lately. "I'm so tired of this, why is my life constantly bombarded with things meant to bring me into despair?" she asked him. She was breathing deeply and trying to calm herself, it caused him to rub against and kiss her a little

"All is not that bad, sunshine. I'm here for ya, and I'll help you however I can to get yer brother and get him back" he told her. "Now stand strong sunshine we're goin' to get yer brother down one way or another!" he said, using his rattler to get up under her body and lift her up and off of him as he smiled. She smiled a little back, giving her a peck on the cheek from him, happy that she had cheered up, at least for him anyway.

But, before she could even get a 'you're right, thanks' to him, the door behind them suddenly shut, causing the both of them to turn at the same time. There was a laugh that Jake didn't recognize and, of course, caused him to wrap around Claudia protectively while rattling his metal rattler and hissing. Then there was chanting, something that he didn't know what they were and it caused him to be even more tense, he didn't want those bastards to take her away again. It caused him to hiss more and showed off his fangs, keeping her close as much as he could. But he froze when there was a horrifying scream coming from her brother's direction, causing them both to look and see him screaming.

"Jacob…?" Claudia asked with a worried tone, though it caused Jake to slither back towards the door, trying to get it open with his body but the door refused to budge. By the time he looked to see how her brother was doing his body was transforming, turning into one of those Naga creatures that his sunshine had fought earlier. "No… we… we can't be too late!" she cried, starting to get more and more distressed

"Get a hold of yerself woman, don't assume that he's a gonner!" her told her, not that it swayed her thoughts any. Another scream/hiss erupted in their ears as Jacob showed off his fangs before breaking out of the chains and falling to the floor. Just like the other Naga he was pure black with black hair and a black lower body. Only thing different about him was that he had red highlights in his hair and, now that he noticed that, small red markings on his black body.

"Jake…" she screeched a bit, but he didn't really make any indication that he recognized her, his eyes were that of rage and didn't recognize her at all. He looked like an animal and out of control unlike the cultist that they had encountered earlier a few days before. With another hiss from her brother Jake hissed back and bared his fangs while rattling his rattler, trying to look menacing but it seemed that there was nothing that could faze the, now half demon, boy.

"If you think yer goin' to harm her you got another thing comin'!" Jake said, his words, and fangs, dripping with venom. He wasn't going to let one of those things almost kill her again, he wouldn't have it! He could even feel her struggle in his coils, but he wasn't going to move, he wasn't going to let her go no matter WHAT was said. He let her know this by squeezing her a little; that he wasn't going to let her go

"Jake you know you can't fight him, let me go!" she commanded, it caused him to look at her.

"No way in hell, I ain't lettin' you fight yer brother!" he told her "I'll fend him off till my last breath" he added, looking to where the creature was and hissed again. But she wouldn't have it; she didn't want Jake sacrificing himself for her and she knew that even if he tried he wouldn't defeat her brother.

"And I'm not going to let you kill yourself because it won't do you any good!" she told him back before summoning her demonic-strength to part away his coils and jump out in front of him, causing him to be irritated. "I will fight my baby brother, I am more inclined to fight him, not you Jake" she told him before she took out her sword and lunged at her fellow half-demon.

"Dammit woman!" he cried, not believing that she had just went to do something crazy and reckless… and then he couldn't do anything because if he did he might hurt her… God dammit!

* * *

Her brother… how she wished to help him, but right now he was so fight hungry that there was no way she could get a word to him. Nothing but short barks of his name was all she could manage and that was not getting through to him at all. Did he succumb to the snake that tempted her? Why did Selena-sama help her and not her brother?! That wasn't fair and there was no way that her brother shouldn't be condemned and she not, they were family after all.

As she and her brother were going at it she could hear Jake hissing near the door; she knew he was going to be irritated since she deliberately left his side to fight her brother. She was thankful he was protective but she found it that it was a bit too much and he had to realize that she was more liable to protect them than he was. But he was male and males always want to be the ones to protect their mates despite the latter saying otherwise.

"Dammit woman get back here"

"Jake there is no time to argue, you know that I can fight him!"

"I don't care, I don't want you dyin' on me, not like before and by them bastards again!" he yelled.

"He isn't one of them, he's my baby brother!" she cried back before looking back to her brother and then lunging forward with her sword baring down on him. She didn't expect it to hit, but it did and cut her brother's flesh like a knife on butter… it was something she regretted. "Oh, sorry Jacob!" she cried, but he didn't seem to hear before he screamed/hissed before dark power swirled around him… this was bad.

"Claudia!" she heard Jake cry before hearing him slither to her as quickly as he could before the power from the boy exploded pushing her and Jake back and through the door, out into the rest of the basement. She landed on her stomach and felt her throat feel a bit on fire since the wind was knocked out of her with the force of power. But despite that she got up with her sword still in hand and looked around before seeing Jake on his back on the ground.

"Jake, are you okay?!" she cried as she went to him, he grumbled as it seemed he got knocked out from the blast.

"What in tarnation?!" one of the townspeople asked before there was another hiss and something lunged at her, rolling them along the ground. Of course it was her little brother, in a bit of a rage and instinct he was doing what he could at his intended target. Since he seemed to have no logic or reasoning and was driving on his primal instincts Claudia couldn't tell what he was trying to do. But with the bearing of fangs she could only guess that he wanted to infect her, but she didn't want to believe that he was beyond turning back to normal.

"D-dammit!" she cried as she punched her brother off her and to the wall "REMEMBER me Jacob, its Claudia!" she called, but, again, he made no indication who it was. This was really bad, how in the world was she going to get to her brother? Though maybe she couldn't? When she was undergoing the trial she didn't remember, right away, anything that she heard that was from the outside other than Selena-sama… so it could be the same thing that was happening then.

The fight went on for a few minutes, then it became ten, twenty and finally it kept going for thirty minutes as the others watched. It was so intense for them, she bet, that they couldn't help but watch as the fight between two half demons occurred in front of their eyes. She sure would want to watch but stay clear in case she, herself, became into the fray, but it would be interesting to say the least. Still right now she needed to get her brother to come back to his old self, wondering how to do so even though it seemed like it was too late to save him.

While she was fighting him via getting thrown on the ground she could hear grunting behind her, though she couldn't turn around to see who it was. But it was Jake, finally waking up after being knocked back from the blast and knocking him out, which hadn't happened since that time the damn hawk attacked him. She was sure he was going to yell at her when he got up from his little nap, but she was too busy to care.

* * *

Jake felt like shit. His head was pounding and his back throbbed after being thrown through a door and on a floor that seemed harder than the ground. All he could think about was protecting his little sunshine; she was everything in the world to him and he would be damned if she got hurt and possibly killed ! So when he came too he wiggled around despite his throbbing head and got back on his belly like he was supposed to.

"Sunshine?! Claudia?!" he called, his eyesight a bit blurry since he had just woken up and was whipping his head every which way trying to find some sort of figure that resembled her.

"Whoa there brother, just calm down!" he heard Rango say, causing him to his and bare his fangs in the voice's direction.

"Like hell I can calm down; where is she?!" he cried, demanding to know where his mate was, which struck fear in Rango's heart. "You better fuckin' tell me or else—" he was about to say before the chameleon interrupted him.

"Don't worry don't worry Jake, she's fine… for the moment…" he said whispering the last part, causing the snake to wrap around him since his vision was almost back to normal…

"Fer the _moment_?! What the FUCK do you mean by that sheriff?!" he cried in anger. He did not want this dumbass for a lizard to start telling him that SOMETHING may happen to HIS mate; HIS sunshine. He was the LAST person he wanted to hear it from, hell he didn't want to hear it at all as he was starting to squeeze the life out of the lizard.

"W-well she's… kind of… busy right now…" he told him, pointing behind him, causing the outlaw to look and see that his mate was fighting against her brother just like she was last time, only this time she was using her claws and not her sword. Upon seeing her Jake threw the sheriff out of his coils and went towards her as she slammed her brother against the wall several times, as if she was trying to get him to snap out of it.

"Do you know how much of a pain in the ass you are?" he asked her when he came behind her; she stopped and looked at him.

"Possibly, not that I care; I'm kind of in the middle of a family dispute here" she told him before grabbing her brother's arm, before it could claw her, and then throwing him across the room. She was panting slightly and he could see cuts and bruises made from the fight

"Well you should; look at you, covered in wounds that stupid brother of yers gave you" he said, getting his head near her to start licking her wounds but she moved away, her face red… and not from the small injuries.

"Jake, can't you wait till we're _alone_?!" she told him; he only flicked his tongue in response, though, before her little brother got back up again and cried. She looked at him, getting frustrated and tired of this, entire she didn't want to fight him, she wanted him to remember her! Though it didn't help that during the frey he knocked her glasses off and everything was a blur… God this was such a pain in the ass.

"STOP IT OTOUTO!" she cried, trying one last time to get through his stupid brain on who she was and what purpose she had in his life. Oddly enough this caused the half breed to stop in his tracks, almost frozen in time as the word she just uttered echoed into his, seemingly, chaotic and untamable mind.

"The fuck did you just call him?" Jake asked her, very confused on why she said such a weird thing

"Otouto… it's Japanese for 'little brother'" she told him, also very puzzled on why he had stopped so suddenly. "He hated it when I called them that so I said that periodically to annoy him"

"Never heard you say that when I was with you"

"That's because he wasn't so annoying and was in the basement all day for the most part" she explained. As the two conversed Jacob's brain started to finally catch up at what was just said and started to shriek in agony, holding his clawed hands on his head, as if something was coming back in his mind, something painful from being buried.

"…Jacob…?" she asked, concerned about her brother as he started to wriggle around, obviously in pain from what was happening to him. It seemed like he couldn't hear her since he was flailing around more and more with each passing minute, in pain and trying to cause it to stop. Eventually the power in his body started to go out of control, lashing out in whips of black wind and threatening to cut open anything that would come near it. He screamed again, this time a human voice definitely in the presence of the warped version the Naga's usually had. It sounded like… her brother was coming back, was trying to remember who he was. Then, suddenly, his power erupted so much that it affected some of the beams holding up the basement, causing the 'ceiling' to start collapsing, falling on top of him and around everyone else.

"Watch it!" Jake said as he used his mouth to grab her collar and slithered away from the falling rubble until it all stopped.

"L-let go of me!" she told him after it was all over, making Jake lower his head and put her down and off her shirt. The moment he let go of her she went over to where her little brother was to be and caused him to grunt since he figured she was going to do that yet he let her go anyway. Either way he followed her closely as she went to the rubble and started to pick through that for her brother. "Jacob, Jacob!" she called, wondering if maybe he would be able to hear her and finally come back to the way he was.

"Ugh…" mumbled a small and high pitched voice that was of a child who had yet to go into puberty, causing her to hurry and get him out of the rubble. When she found him… he was totally different from before.

In front of her and under the concrete his body, both upper and lower, was white with blue and green swirls all around them. His hair was also white with the same color highlights and his eyes… well they were slit and more oval-like. He looked normal… well more normal than he was a few minutes ago where they seemed to be fighting to the death.

"Claudia…?" he asked her as he slowly sat up –despite not having a butt per se- and looked around "Please tell me I'm dreaming and that I'm not really half snake and surrounded by very huge versions of small animals" he told her.

"Sorry otouto, but it's not a dream" she said with a smile, happy that her brother was back to normal "But how did you come back?" she asked, confused.

"I dunno, all I remember is this pain in my back and then you screaming that God forsaken name again like the freak you are" he told her. She didn't yell at him though, instead she gave her brother a hug… a really tight one as well. "Hey, get off me!" he cried, trying to pull her off but she just held him tighter, glad that she was with her baby brother again. "God you are so weird, what's wrong with you?" he asked after she finally let go of him and was smiling happily.

"Just happy to see my baby brother again" she said to him before standing up "Well we need to get you out of here so that you can be safe then we can figure out how to get you back to your real form" she told him. He rolled his eyes before getting up; wincing at the wounds that still covered his body. On closer inspection she saw that a lot of the small wounds from earlier were healing, skin peeling off at where the openings were. Though her sword wound was still there, it was going to take a while for that to heal and there would probably even be a scar. Even though she was hurt as well she helped her brother up and slither towards where the entrance were the basement was, feeling relief for the first time ever since these hellish happenings came to be.

As they walked she could hear the creaking ceiling, severely damaged from the outburst earlier and could probably collapse at any moment. This hastened her pace a bit but since her brother was still getting used to slithering he was having a hard time keeping up.

"Hey, slow down Claudia!" he said stopping in his tracks and causing her to stop and look at him

"Jake this place is going to collapse, do you WANT to get crushed?!" she asked him. This was neither the time nor place for them to be arguing, but her brother didn't seem to care all that much since they started to bicker, just like normal siblings. In all their bickering the rest of the animals were half way up the stairs before a loud shift was heard and a crumbling behind Claudia as the two argued. In the corner of her brother's eye he caught something coming falling towards his sister and, in pure instinct, pushed her.

"You idiot move!" he cried and then…

_Squish_

Time slowed down for Claudia as she witnessed what she was in her very eyes. Jacob, her little brother, shoving her and then… and then a metal beam came crashing forward from the side, going straight through his body in a diagonal angle, blood flying everywhere and shock erupting in that one moment. He cried out in pain as his clawed at the beam, crying from the pain as his sister stood there in shock. It only took her a moment to snap out of it and go to him and trying to think of somehow to get him out of it.

"Breath Jacob, calm down" she said, trying to put her hand on the column, which was jagged from being broken off. It was odd how she was trying to calm him down when she, herself was starting to hyperventilate and panic. She had come so far, she had done SO MUCH to come and save him, he couldn't fall and DIE just like that.

"It hurts…" he whimpered

"I know it does" she said, working with this while the animals watched, shocked at what had happened and felt pity for the girl. Beans turned away while standing next to Rango with Priscilla watching with interest; the rest either had pity or horror on their faces, not that she paid attention at the time since her brother was the most important right now. "How about this"

"AGh, no no don't push!" he cried, tears falling down his white, scaly, cheeks.

"Sorry, but how else am I supposed to get it out?" she asked though he was to upset and in pain to really care. He was sobbing and hiccupping… and with every hiccup he coughed up blood, meaning that things were getting worse fast. After all the bickering they had done, Claudia often forgot how much of a little boy her brother was… that he was just a child and that he needed protection… one that his older sister did not provide because she was busy bickering with him. "I'm going to push it out, I know it'll hurt, but you can't heal yourself if you have it stuck in you" she told him, though he put his hands on her and shook his head.

"No… the pain is g-ack… going away" he said, spitting up blood "body is numbing it"

"But you can't heal and get better"

"S-stupid…" he said "too much pain to handle getting it out… I'm already getting used to the pain anyway. It's warm…" he added. This was confusing her "The blood is warm and comforting, sis. It's… warming me up and it feels good!" he said, his voice sounding weaker and weaker by the second.

"Don't give in Jacob!" she cried, though he didn't listen to her, as usual, and looked around instead, to the animals behind her. He looked over to see Jake and smiled weakly

"Well if it isn't your guard dog. Seems like you can't go anywhere without him huh?" he asked, sputtering more now, the strength in his hands fading and not stopping her from pulling the column out from his body. Tears were still going down his cheeks as his eyes started to become dull… she was losing him; SHE WAS LOSING HIM.

In desperation she shook his shoulders

"Don't die on me Jacob, I've come too far to lose you! I'm your big sister, I'm supposed to protect you!" she cried, sounding like she was close to breaking down.

"Then you suck at being a big sister" he said with another cough, this time being more violent and a lot more blood coming out. "But…" he started to say, faintly smiling "you're my big sister… and I'm glad I had you as one, you did your best… Claudia" he said, voice pretty much gone by the last time he muttered her name. At that moment his body went limp before, only its own, slid off the column and into her arms.

His body was already cold, and the blood from his wounds was soaking her shirt, making it a deep red. She was trembling as all her feelings and memories with her brother came right after in a matter of moments. Despair overrode her senses as she stared at his body, unmoving when thinking about all that had happened and what was the reason in life. After all this time, after preparing for the journey, going through that trial to keep her own sanity, having to be in their home while the corpses of their parents still lay there decaying. Everything. Every. Little. Thing. It was all for NOTHING. Her hard work and trials were short of saving the one relative she still had in this damn state and he died even before they got out of the building! It was in vain; ALL OF IT.

While feeling and thinking these thoughts and feelings the animals slowly left, giving her room to mourn. They had all came to pitch in but it was in vain… and since she was feeling down they left so she could gather herself. Even Jake realized that nothing he could say would make her feel better and slithered up the stairs as well, worried about his mate's status and hoped that she would be able to get back up again, even with everything that had happened.

"I love you... Jacob; I'm sorry I'm not like Jason..." she whimpered, which was the last thing Jake heard before he left her at peace

* * *

**Author:** Well I finally got this up and guess what? EVEN MORE DESPAIR THROWN AT HER. That's right, I knew from, almost, the beginning of this fan fiction I was going to kill her baby brother off. Why? BECAUSE IT MAKES A GOOD STORY THAT'S WHY. So yea I was pretty amused at the comments saying that they hoped they would save her little brother when I knew that they wouldn't be able to because that's how life is. I'm not making this a fan fic where the main goal of the character is reached like most animes nowadays~ Anyway see you guys in the next chapter.


	16. The Other Half

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 16: The Other Half

**Author: **I'm so sorry _ Finals and life have kind of given me distractions! And I needed a little break after finals, hopefully I can get this fan fiction over with. And I figured out I only have 3 chapters left... counting this one I mean x3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

It had been a while now, at least an hour since the room was cleared and Claudia was left alone with the corpse of her brother. Jake had been pacing through the room non-stop, worried sick about her but didn't want to invade on her privacy. Even he knew when to give someone space when it came to it, and failing to protect a sibling... he may not have had the exact experience but he did, at one time, felt like he had to protect his cause he was the oldest. But he was getting impatient, he felt that if he left his sunshine for too long she might do something she might regret.

"Jake... where are you goin'?" Rango asked as the outlaw started to head towards the basement.

"Where do you think I'm goin'? I'm going to go get her" he said to him

"Isn't it a bit too... soon...?" he asked

"She can't stay down there all day and mope!" he replied. Even though he loved his sunshine to death and would let her cry for a little bit; an outlaw never stayed sad for long and that goes for his mate as well. Besides she had been down there for an hour, he was pretty sure that was enough time to get crying out of the system. "I'll be goin' to get her now" he said before he slithered down into the basement. When he came down it didn't take long to find her, who was sitting with her back against the beam and her knees were up to her chest. "Sunshine" he called to her, but she made no indication that she heard him "Sunshine" he said, louder than before. She still didn't make any sort of movement or indication

"Claudia" he finally said, calling her first name before slithering over to her. She finally made a small amount of movement that was her arms tightening around her legs. When he got to her body his neck over shadowed her whole body, but she didn't gasp or show any fear. Why should she when she knew that Jake would never hurt her, at least not on purpose. "How long are you plannin' to sit there?" he asked her; she didn't say anything but shrugged in response. "You can't sit there and mope, we ain't done here yet and you know it" he told her, getting his head closer to her.

"The reason we came here is to save my brother; that's it" she managed to say in a quiet voice.

"Did you also forget what them bastards did to yer brother? Yer family? To YOU?!" he asked her."You can't let them get away with the shit they've put you through! You need to get revenge; kill all them bastards till there's none left" he told her. She only put her head on her knees, this made Jake less than pleased "Dammit woman what's wrong with you?!" he asked, his tail wrapping around her body and lifting her up to his face. "What happened to the woman who had that fire in her eyes? The stubborn strong-willed woman I fell in love with?!" he asked.

"I dunno, maybe she died the same time her baby brother did" she said with a blank voice.

"Bullshit! She's right here, talkin' to me!" he answered "You can't sit here and keep mopin' like some weak little animal! Ya need to stand up and see this thing till the end" he explained. He had some truth in those words, but after her brother died she wondered if she could get the strength to stand up and be strong once again.

"But my sense of purpose is gone, Jake. My brother is dead; this whole mission was in vain!" she told him. She looked to the side sadly "If only Jason was here, then maybe he would have found a better way to help our brother" she commented lowly. Jake did hear it though

"Jason? Who in the hell is that?" he asked, a bit confused with a name that he was not familiar with.

"He's me and Jacob's older brother, he had stayed back home for summer classes in college so that's why he wasn't with us when you came around" she explained. Though the outlaw really didn't care about this other than why the hell he wasn't told about him sooner. "I didn't say anything about him because he didn't have anything to do with me and my family in the summer. But I do wish he was around so that maybe, at least, my younger brother was still alive" she told him sadly.

"Well he ain't, and there's nothin' that you could have done; you just have to stand up and keep goin' till them bastards are dead" he said. His face was now less hard and strict; softening before nuzzling her "C'mon Sunshine I know you can do it. You've got me and those idjits from Mud, yer not alone" he explained. She nuzzled him back, but it was a sad one, not a loving one.

"I don't know if I have the strength to get back up Jake, all of this has taken a toll on me, I can't take any more despair" she told him.

"I know Sunshine, but you can't stay here and mope, yer a big girl and you should start actin' like it" he said in reply. He then shifted his tail so that he put her down, but making sure she would stand up on her own two feet and not just sit to the ground. "I love ya Sunshine and I can't stand to see you like this, if you can't stand strong for yerself, can you at least do it fer me?" he asked her. He knew she felt bad about herself, like she was useless and this was all her fault so he figured that if she couldn't do it for herself then she could do it for him. It was worth a shot and anything to get her, at least partially, back to her old self.

She sighed, knowing that Jake was doing his damnedest to get her to feel better but she was proving to be difficult. If she kept this up she was liable to piss him off and then she would be in for it so there wasn't much to do then do what he wanted her to. So, in the end, she would be doing this for Jake and Jake alone because if not for him then she would have just left that place and never returned; maybe just stay in the animal kingdom for the rest of her life.

"Fine... I see your point" she told him, not sounding very cheerful but at least she understood what he was trying to do. But her mate knew that she would be able to use those feelings against her opponent and make her even more powerful than she was. He didn't see why it would be hard considering he did that a lot when he fought and was pissed off about something. Thinking about it caused him to chuckle before he pecked her cheek

"That's my girl, now how about we git up there and kick some ass?" he asked her. She nodded absentmindedly as the two finally made their way upstairs to the others so they could go further into the complex and kill whoever started this mess in the first place. "By the way, you mentioned yer brother... I mean yer older brother"

"You mean Jason? Yea I did... what about him?" she asked, wondering what brought this up.

"Well considerin' that he's goin' to become a sort of brother to me I might as well get to know him right?" he asked. She shrugged but she didn't waste time talking about her older brother, about how much praise he got and how her parents compared her and her younger sibling to him. It wasn't often and only after they had made a mistake that greatly angered her parents. Jake didn't think that was fair since it had happened in his family before, but he kept quiet about it. This was her time to tell him more about her family and he thought it'd be best if she did so without interruption.

"I did look up to him and I always wondered how the hell he was able to live life like he does now. He has a good job and a lot of money; I can't see myself getting there so soon. I don't like working too much since there aren't any jobs that would be fun and give me such a thing" she told him. She knew that she would have to get a job eventually but she wasn't sure if she could find one she would really enjoy.

"Well that's easy" Jake commented, almost as if the answer was right in her face "Since yer my mate and it would make sense if you become an outlaw like myself" he told her. She looked at him like he was crazy, which, she had to admit, wasn't too far from the truth.

"I don't know, I've never killed anyone before" she said, a bit uncertain about what the suggestion. But thinking about it, the demon in her is very violent and she enjoyed fighting Bill and his men. Maybe it was something that could keep her violent urges in check, besides if she did she would get to travel and see new places and meet new people... okay maybe not meet new people considering how people fear him.

"Hmph, would you prefer stayin' behind and bein' some housewife? I can make arrangements; means you won't get in trouble and you'd be safe" he asked of her. He looked upset at first, but the playful smirk on his face meant that he was being somewhat playful. She didn't like the idea though

"No thanks, I wouldn't be able to do anything and I'm NOT housewife material!" she told him. He chuckled

"Then you better get ready for trainin' after this is all over" he responded. She opened her mouth and was going to say that she had a brother to take care of but she paused when she remembered that he wasn't of this world any more. So she slowly closed it and didn't say anything else before they arrived up the stairs once again.

"Ah! There you are Miss Claudia" Rango said, happy to see she was with Jake and didn't look too bad even though her brother just died in front of her. "I hope yer feelin' better"

"... A little" she admitted, she was feeling better, but she knew that it wasn't over and the reserved anger within her needed to stay hidden till she destroyed the bastard who started this in her life. "But we need to finish this and fast" she told him, hoping that they would be able to do this quickly. But knowing that it probably isn't going to be that easy.

_Hisssssss_ hearing hisses coming at us it was time for the lackeys of the head honcho to go after them. And, as it was predicted, several of the cultists came racing towards them. It caused Claudia to feel protective so she took out her sword, ready to fight the menace.

"Claudia, don't you dare-" Jake was about to say but it was too late, his Sunshine was already going towards them with the intent to fight them. He cursed to himself and went after her, he was going to protect her the best he could, even if she considered him getting in the way.

"Die!" she cried as she swung her sword at the cultists, repeatedly hitting them with her sword, blocking her with the golden staffs and using them as their weapons against her. She was able to defeat some of them but they were proving to be too much, they outmatched her, and that concerned Jake. He wanted to shoot but he didn't want to hurt her, causing him to be perplexed a bit. But that changed when a bunch of them went after her all at once, causing an almost dog pile onto her.

"Claudia!" Jake cried, aiming his gun at them, he didn't care if it didn't do anything to them, as long as it distracted them enough to get them off of her. So he hissed before going towards them, but then other cultists came from the side and attacked him. he was able to throw some of them off but the knives getting to him were starting to go through his scales.

_BANG_ went off a gun, a blazing white golden light hit one of the cultists on Jake, burning him till he was a pile of ash.

"W-Well I'll be!" Rango said, he wasn't sure what to do but he had to help Jake out. But he never expected the shot to do something like that, but he had to make it seem like he did mean it to do that. "I-I mean, ha! Didn't think I would have that trick up my sleeve did ya?!" he said, looking like he knew what he was doing.

"Rango now is not the time!" Beans said before she put up her rifle and shot a bullet, making the same light that Rango's pistol made, killing another cultist. The others joined in before Jake was able to thrash the rest of them off, using his bullets to kill them. His bullets were a bit different, his lights were a reddish black, not that he noticed or anyone else.

"Where's Claudia?!" he cried looking around for her. He looked over just in time to see a burst of power coming from where she was. The cultists where blasted off in a whirlwind of power and in her hands was not her sword, but a long staff with a scythe blade on each end. There were strange letters on the staff part and her eyes were glowing with the aura around her, pulsating with power.

"Die!" she cried again before she used her new weapon to kill the remaining cultists around her. "Alright, looks like you all will get in on the action" she said with a smile, her voice distorted once again. "But we can't wait here, we still have to get to the bastard who did this all to me" she said. She was acting a bit more aggressive and sadistic. But with the demon inside her it wasn't that difficult to accept.

They all agreed and ran with her towards the back of the building where there was a connector to another building, a much larger building. On their way they had to kill other cultists, all with their mysterious power in their guns. They weren't sure how they got it, but Claudia speculated that maybe using her crystal not only let them grow but they also let their weapons, at least temporarily, be able to kill the cultists. She wasn't sure about why Jake's power was black, maybe he had some power he didn't know about, but as long as she didn't have to be afraid of them getting too hurt.

* * *

It only took a few minutes for them to get through the dozens of cultists in the way and towards the big doors leading to the other building. Claudia was still having her power emitting from her and the rest of the crew were doing their best to be supportive. And they were doing rather well for those stuck in western times; they mostly handled the range fighting while she handled the melee they were a good team. But now was time for the final reveal of the bastard who started all this, and she couldn't WAIT to wring the life out of him.

"Be prepared!" she told him before she stepped back a little, let her right leg bend down, storing power within it. She may be mad but she wanted to make her entrance be dramatic... kind of like those cliché movies. So when she was ready she rounded her leg up for a hardy kick at the large doors, causing both to swing open, beating against the wall on the other side. After that she wasted no time running inside

"Claudia!" Jake called, not wanting her to go in first. He didn't care if she was able to kill a bunch of cultists by herself, he still cared too much to let her go off on her own.

"Alright asshole show yourself!" she cried as Jake came up beside her and the rest from behind. They were all waiting for whoever it was responsible for what had happened and by God they were going to make him/her pay for what they did. The lights were relatively dim, only torches on the wall were lit for right now, but there was evidence of lights hanging from the ceiling. There were huge stain glass windows on the sides of the long room, as if it was a huge church. Maybe it was at one time, but it wasn't any more, or at least not for the holy God anymore. At the other end of the room there was an alter and a sort of chair with a figure sitting in it. Claudia could sense that the person sitting there was much more powerful then the cultists that they had been fighting on the way there.

"I know that you're the one who started this, who tortured my family and is responsible for the death of my younger brother and parents!" she cried. The figure clicked his tongue, the sound echoing through the huge space before he stood up. It was kind of obvious that he was annoyed at the predicament as he came down the stairs that led down from the alter and onto the ground floor where they were.

"I should have known that you would cause trouble, you always did for me no matter what you did. Of course you didn't get in trouble since you were the favorite" he said. That voice... she knew that voice as her stomach started to go into knots. No, oh no it couldn't be, this day could not POSSIBLY get any worse than it already had. "I could never understand it, but I guess it doesn't matter since they got what was coming to them, same with Jacob and the same will be for you" he told her.

The man walked till he was ten feet away before the lights came up and the revealed form of the person was revealed. He was an older young man, approximately five years older than Claudia with wire-rim glasses and a serious expression on his face. his hair was a lighter brown and the front was long to the corners of his jaw while the back was incredibly short. It was someone that she recognized off the bat

"..Jason?!" she cried, more angry than distressed at the sight of her brother in front of her.

"Indeed, little sister. I never expected you to get this far, hell I never excepted you to be here at all with your free will intact" he said coldly. "I also didn't think you would bring vermin with you, of course I wouldn't expect any less since you were most like father" he said, pushing his glasses up.

"How could you?!" she cried "How could you kill mom, dad and Jacob?!" she asked, not believing her older brother was the reason for all of this.

"Tch, you wouldn't understand the reasoning sister, besides if I went off rambling then it would just give you and your little cheery animal band time to attack. You really think I would make mistakes like those bosses in video games?" he asked her.

"No I don't, God forbid you not play them; I can't see how the hell you got good grades while getting praise from mom and dad!" she yelled. Right now it was a bit like a sibling squabble, but the older brother wouldn't have it.

"I had to work HARD for that stuff, Claudia! But you were pampered! Even Jacob wasn't cut any slack compared to you" he growled at her. "You were our parent's only daughter; the only daughter in generations! But that gives them no right to let you do what you wanted" he told her.

"You have no right to say that, you don't know what she's been through!" Jake said, his body going in front of her. Her brother just scoffed at the snake, as if he wasn't important enough for his time.

"I have no concern for her nor what has happened since the time my little sister got away from my men" he told him. He had calmed down somewhat before looking to her "What I care about is revenge, but I may not even have to dirty my hands for that" he said before waving his hand. That was when a large wave of power that swept over them, causing most of them to get flown backwards aside from Jake and Claudia.

"What do you mean about that brother? Your stupid lackeys can't do anything to me" she told him, readying her weapon. He noticed her aura and looked even more displeased

"They are not going to be the ones to stop you, with how you are right now they would just be cannon fodder. No, you, yourself, will be your downfall" he said to her. She looked confused but suddenly her back started to pulse, burning like acid was just thrown on her back.

"Oh God, why is it burning?!" she cried

"You think refusing and going towards that light was going to keep the demon within you in check? The power you have now has only kept it at bay but eventually it will overpower it and overpower you" he told her. He was still cold, still heartless as he saw her scream in pain and the darkness envelope her.

"Claudia!" the rattlesnake cried, trying to get to her but the darkness repulsed him and he was knocked back. That was when Jason snapped his fingers and cages of inky darkness came up and entrapped the band of animals, though the snake was separated from them. All he had to do now was wait, wait for his dear sister to either become one of them, or he would have to destroy her if she managed to conquer the darkness in her own heart.

* * *

She was, again, transported to another place after being overcome by the darkness, this time it was a burning city. A place that was decaying, dying. It was as if the whole world had gone through the apocalypse; did she travel through time?

"God I hope not, I still have to kick Jason's ass, besides I can't think of my life without Jake and I'm sure he would be heavily upset if I left him like that" she said to herself. So she started walking around, trying to figure out where the hell she was and where she was supposed to go.

Eventually she got within one of the ruined buildings, causing the world around her to be suddenly cold and dark. The mood alarmed her, causing her to be more cautious as she went deeper into the building, going around debris and trying to make as little sound as possible. When she had gotten deep enough this deep breathing was starting to echo around her. She continued to go around till she found a room and a skeletal girl sitting on a very beat up chair.

From what Claudia could tell she was wearing a black tank top and light-colored shorts. There were bandages all along her arms and neck, she was sitting there, almost like a doll. But there was no mistake that the breathing was coming from her.

"_Os ouy evah yllanif emoc, retsis_" she said, her head rolling before looking forward, her red eyes looking dead and hollow.

"What do you mean? I don't speak your language creature" she said, being cautious and ready for a possible fight. The person... thing did not look amused

"_I forgot that my language is the backwards compatible of yours_" she said, unamused in tone.

"Who are you? You feel like someone I know or something" she told her

"_You do not know me? After I saved your sorry ass twice? Or at least the one who used to have this body_" she said. She sounded so lazy and unmotivated or maybe she was just tired, Claudia couldn't tell which.

"Then maybe you can first answer my questions, because I sure as hell would like to get those out of the way" she said to her.

"_Very well... ask your questions_" she said, waiting patiently, her eyes staring right into her.

"First off, who are you" Claudia asked, wondering what sort of thing this creature was and who she was known in this place.

"_That is easy, I am your other half_"

* * *

**Author:** Well I FINALLY got this up, sorry it's been so long, as stated above I was going through life and a bit of stress. But I'm mostly better now =D We just have two more chapters I PROMISE. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and look forward to the end game.


	17. Blood of Eve

Curse of the Snake Demons

Chapter 17: Blood of Eve

**Author: **Welcome to the next chapter! I really hope you all like this chapter cause I'm going to put my damnedest into it!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

"My... other half? You mean like the dark side of myself?" Claudia asked the figure, her arms crossed.

"_In a way yes. The one in this body, the one who helped you battled the demon... still battles this demon who holds her. The power from God that you so borrowed from His Vassal was only temporary, eventually it become with no affect, causing the demon to take over this 'body'_" she explained.

"You meanthe body you're in now... it was here before? And that you're the demon... or being controlled by the demon in my body?" she asked. The creature sighed before standing up and walking to the broken window

"_It has always been here, always been in the bodies, in the blood of Eve, being her sister, protecting her and keeping her power in check_" she started. "_But when the demon was put into this body it threatened the contamination of the Prince of Darkness and so the sister took it upon herself to help in the battle. Now she's being eaten up by the demon sent by the Prince, soon she won't remember who she was or what she is supposed to do, she will only want to serve the Prince. And thus she shall take over the body and become a willing servant_".

Claudia stood there as the monologue went on, trying to take in the information that this person was giving to her. It was a lot and it gave so many questions, but she wasn't sure what to ask and what not to ask. She wanted to get back to where she was before but her curiosity was coming over her; it caused her to be conflicted.

"How do I overcome the demon? How do I help?" she asked, the figure turned her head

"_If you must know, fighting me is the only approach to successfully subdue the demon, to let this 'body' regain dominant control._"

"What happens when the demon is subdued?" she asked

"_Then the demon and the 'body' will become one. But the owner of the body will be the mind, thus becomes the demon and gains control of the powers_" she explained.

"Who is the owner of the body?"

"_She did not give the demon a name, but using the language, the demon decided to name her Aidualc; in 'honor' of the one who has the blood of Eve_"

"The "Blood of Eve" what do you mean?" she asked. She was wondering if she was referring to someone being a part of the original Eve in the Genesis story

"_The blood of Eve refers to those blessed with the powers the original human, Eve, had. You have her powers, though only lightly tapped in to, you have the blood of Eve thus you are a target for the Prince, thus you are in danger_" well Claudia had to admit that this sounded more dangerous.

"I see... so I just have to defeat you in battle and Aidualc will be back?" she asked before smiling. She clenched her fists "Then how about we fight!"

"_You are certain about this? I will not be easy to defeat you know_" she told her.

"It's better than just sitting here, and I want to hurry and get back to Jake and my treacherous brother" she replied.

"_Then we shall battle_" she said and before Claudia could react she appeared suddenly in front of her. She punched her straight in the face, causing her to get knocked into the wall

"Ouch, you could have let me get ready first" she told her as she got off the wall.

"_You should have been ready to fight at that moment_" she told her and went after once again. It wasn't long after the fight did the building get unstable and started crumbling. Soon after Claudia got punched through the building and onto the dead world she was now in. "_You are unworthy of helping this 'body' regain herself if you are this easy to toss around_" she told her. Claudia coughed but was able to stand up

"You know, it's not just strength that I can use to get her back" she told her.

"_Strength is the essence of all things_" she said

"Yes, but not just physical, mental and spiritual are as well" she replied, her smile widening into a confident smirk. "Aidualc, can you hear me?" she called, hoping to get her attention, but she only got a punch in the face again.

"_Your voice can not reach her now, she is near the end of her strings_" the demon said with a blank face.

"Can't hurt to try! Aidualc! Don't let this thing take control of you! I need you!" she kept saying, even if she was getting punched in the face a lot.

"_Shut up_" demon said with a monotone command as she punched her again. This happened a lot before Claudia decided to try a different tactic. So when the demon went for another punch she caught the punch

"Listen here, Aidualc" she said seriously. Her face was heavily bruised but not too much she couldn't talk. "I know you're there, and I know you feel weak right now, but I _need_ you. I need your strength, I can't face my brother alone!" she prayed to God this could work, that her words could get through to her. The demon was going to punch her with her other fist but stopped, twitching

"_No... I thought she was too deep to come back_" the demon said, trying to get herself to move but it was proving little effect.

"Come back, I need you sister, please" Claudia said, her hand pushing against the demon's, causing it to retract slowly.

"_D-dammit_" the demon cursed, the grip she had was losing on the 'body' she was in, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth."_I... won't..._" she started to say

"You will, you'll give my sister back to me and I'll go and kill my older brother for what he has done!" she cried before she wielded her own fist and hit the demon as hard as she could "WAKE UP AIDUALC" she cried. The demon was sent flying across the ground, demonic screams ringing through the area.

And then all was quiet. Claudia was hesitant to go over to the body but she knew that if she didn't then she wouldn't get anywhere. So she cautiously went to the body, doing her best to be on guard. She got on one of her knees and, hesitantly, shook the girl's shoulder. There was no movement at first, but then the hand shot up and took a hold of her neck

'_Aw fuck_' she thought to herself as the hand gripped her tightly

"_This... body... i-is mine...!_" the demon said, now sounding frustrated. "_N-n-no..._" she stuttered, trying to keep control. Claudia could feel the fluctuation in the grip loosening and tightening, the fight within Aidualc's mind going on.

"C'mon-... sister!" she cheered as much as she could so that the morale for her 'sister' could be put up.

"_Aaaaaagh_" the demon cried, releasing her and holding her head, trying to fight herself. The half demon could only stand and watch, waiting to see who was the victor, though, of course, she would not have expected for that person do explode with power, knocking her back.

"God..." she coughed, trying to get the dust out of her lungs before she slowly got up, her back throbbing from the impact, the demon power or both. Either way she made herself get up and slowly go over to the body, only to stop when she was a few feet away from it. She stood there for a few moments before the body finally moved

"_Fuck..._" she breathed, the body slowly lifting itself off the ground and onto her legs. Her voice was still distorted, but her nails were longer along with her canines and her eyes were now a fiery red and slit, reminding her, somewhat, of Jake's eyes. "_I never thought the demon would catch me off guard like that_" she said with a sigh before looking to Claudia. "_Thank you, without you I would have been taken over; I owe you a lot sister_" she told her.

"Well I couldn't let the demon take over my body, I need to go back to Jake and the others, they need my help and I need to kill my brother" she replied back. Aidualc nodded and flipped her hand up and a black portal came out of nowhere

"_Go through here, and you'll go back to your friends and love_" she told her.

"Alright... thanks, I'll need you in this battle"

"_I know, I will do my best_" she said. That was when Claudia walked into the portal, back to those how needed her most.

* * *

"She's goin' to come back" Jake said, seething with anger and frustration being in that cage, every once in a while he would try to go against it but it was not very effective.

"She can't, the demon has been in her body for too long, it's just about time before she becomes one of us" Jason said, walking calmly back and forth between the cages. "And even if she somehow did come back as herself then I'll just proceed with killing her with myself" he added.

"Over my dead body" Jake growled

"Of course" he simply said, hearing that was something he expected since he heard this particular snake was with his sister. "I've noticed that you're very close to my sister"

"What Claudia is to me is none of yer business" Jake said, his tongue flicking out in irritation.

"I see, and yet it's obvious that you're protective of her" he stated, walking in front of Jake's cage. "You should have just left her for my men to take her" hearing this caused Jake to hiss, showing his fangs

"You ain't the boss of me, filthy human; I do what I want!" he cried. But Jason just scoffed at him only to look over to the vortex of darkness since it started fluxing.

"Here she comes" he said dryly, watching the darkness being worked up and waited patiently for her. But it didn't seem like what he was expecting with the slight suspicion on his face as he waited. "What is-" he was about to say but was thrown off mid-sentence by a figure coming out and sending him flying into the wall.

"THAT'S for being an asshole" Claudia said, revealing herself from the darkness with her fist clenched and a very unhappy expression. "The next thousand will be for hurting those who are precious to me and not feeling anything towards it" she told him. That was when she appeared in front of him and punching him long and hard several ties and ending it with a kick towards the center of the building.

"Tch, I was hoping you wouldn't come back like this, sister" he said, wiping some blood from the corner of his mouth and standing up with anger in his eyes. "But at least it gives me the satisfaction of getting rid of you myself" he said before running after her.

"You wish!" she said, going after him as well as the two started their fight, taking blows to each other and getting thrown into the things around the church. Claudia used her double headed scythe while her brother used this spear that he conjured up. "You killed mom, dad and Jacob; don't you feel ANY guilt at all?!" she asked while fighting, locking her weapon with his.

"Of course not, mom and dad always had me do stuff on my own, only giving me the basics before making me move on. But they didn't do that to you, they gave you EVERYTHING you needed" he said, pushing against her weapon.

"Maybe they did at first, but I'm eighteen, Jason! Dad and mom started to put on the pressure, urging me to get jobs. They made me even take care of a snake dad found on the road; you know how NERVE-WRECKING that is?!" she told him, going against him.

"Please, that should be the least of your problems. I had to deal with loans, work and managing my money well enough so that I didn't have to drop out of school and mom and dad didn't do much to support me" he replied to her. He pushed against her with his aura of red darkness flaring up. It was getting hard for her to keep going against him, which was what Jason saw because he put more strength into his push, pushing her body backwards. She tried to push back, but she was getting less and less friction.

"That still isn't any reason to kill them! They put you into this world, and they had us to take care of!" she said. But her brother's look... maybe it was because he was her older brother and had an influence on her or maybe because she knew that he was about to get serious, but his face intimidated her greatly. She remembered when he had that face was when he was going to beat her up. He had always been older, always been stronger than her so there was a small, implanted fear within her because of that.

Jason could see this and knew that his sister still had some submission from when they were kids. So he took this opportunity to use his reserved strength to push her so hard she went flying into the other wall.

"Claudia!" cried Jake as he watched his Sunshine get hurt by this bastard who made her life hell for a reason that was pretty much absurd. Of course while he was sitting in that cage her brother picked her up again and threw her around, jabbing his spear at her multiple times. It was getting him pissed, getting him heated with anger; his love was going to get killed, or so he thought, if he didn't do something. So he started to go against the cage, hitting it, not caring what Rango was saying to him from across the way.

"A-and what about Jacob?! He was just as spoiled as myself!" she cried, getting up from where she was with her weapon in hand. Her wounds were slowly healing, only being slow because the fact that the weapon Jason had was coated with his demon power. She stuck at her brother only to miss, but she was seething mad, getting more frustrated and her anger from before bubbling up inside her. "He was the youngest, and he was spoiled; he didn't even do anything compared to myself!" she said, going against her brother.

She so much strength, that it ricocheted the spear, leaving him open. She took that moment to slice at his middle before littering his body with slices with her scythe. There was so much anger that it spiked her power, making it all the more lethal. The aura became more intense then it was, spreading around Jason's body and giving him more wounds on his body.

"DIE YOU STUPID BASTARD"

Was what she cried, shoving the blade into his body even more, it even made him cough blood before she stuck the blade in him and threw up into his 'throne' causing it to break. She was breathing heavily but felt that she used all of her power on him and even used the spike of her power into his body, how could he survive?

After that, it was finally over, for her. Finally the hell was over and she could start her life over, and starting it with her boyfriend, Jake. She smiled weakly at him and the other animals, since all of her anger was out she was a bit tired, but able enough to get a smile and energy to get them out of those cages.

"Right... let's get this done now" she started to say

"Sunshine are you alright?" Jake asked in alarm

"I'm fine, Jake, these wounds will heal soon enough" she said with a shrug. She went to Rango and gang first, putting her hand on the cage and closing her eyes.

"That was a mighty fine fight, Ms. Claudia; never thought I could see humans move so fast" he said, impressed.

"You need to remember, Rango, that me and my brother are half demons" she said. While her hand was on the cage black symbols appeared were her fingertips touched. The magic spell that was binding the cage was being undone, but as she was standing there, talking to them all while unlocking the cage, chanting was starting to be heard. It made her uneasy, like something wasn't right and that a dark power was building. That was when her eyes snapped open and, at the same time. a blast of huge power went out behind her, right where her brother was. She looked behind her only to see concrete getting slammed into her. "Fuck" she said to herself right before it hit her.

She should have known that her brother wouldn't have been killed so easily... though she hoped she would have at least greatly wounded him. But looking up from the rubble she saw his figure glowing in inky darkness. His wounds were gone, but his eyes were black as night and his fangs were prodding out of his mouth.

"_I'm tired of this. I don't like toying with you sister because you always make it less fun. So how about I just go ahead and finish this_" he said. She got up, still weak from using most of her stamina with the fight. Even if she did have superior powers she was only using them for the first time now, so she had no training. Her brother knew this and knew that she was already tired by this point. "_You are weak now, you have no training so you can't even transform yet. But I have been training for years, able to use my powers to good use_" he told her. Then these black symbols outstretched onto the church floor and his index finger made a motion of pointing to her and then bending it back towards the wall behind him.

The symbols wrapped around her and threw her across the room into the wall. He did other motions with his finger that threw her around the room, slamming her into the walls, ceiling and floor until a lot of the place was painted with streaks of her blood.

"Dammit! YOU BASTARD" Jake cried, hitting the cage with all of his might, even having some of his blood dripping from his head. "LET HER GO" he cried again, his temper boiling to the point where he was going to go on a killing spree if he saw a second longer of his Sunshine beat up the way she was.

"_She will die in this place, for now and forever_" he said, using his finger to direct her in front of him before he clenched his fist which sent a signal to automatically start shocking her. She cried out in pain, the black electricity searing her flesh and opening wounds that her brother had inflicted on her before.

"S-STOP" she cried, almost in a pleading voice, which could be heard from where Jake was. From hearing this, seeing this, it was the last straw for the outlaw as the anger inside him couldn't be contained any more. He lifted his tail and shot the hell out of the cage, using up all of his bullets that seemed to just get absorbed by the darkness in his cage.

"C'mon everyone, we have to try and help her!" Rango ordered, and so the others started to go out at the cage as well, but it was to no avail. Of course it didn't last long till the cultists started to surround the cages, using their powers to keep them at bay. They mostly focused on Jake, causing him more frustration and started to thrash about and shooting everywhere. Of course while doing this he eventually ran out of bullets, and with the added prodding and hits from the cultists he was on the edge. He did stop, but he started to shake afterwards as he felt like he had to do something, he couldn't bear to hear his girl crying in pain anymore.

His eyes glowed and something inside him, not just anger and frustration, but a heat going through his body. And it wasn't just his inside, it was pouring out the outside too in this aura of overwhelming negative emotion.

"_Get_ off of her!" he threatened, his words dripping with venom that would probably rival a black Mamba's. "NOW!" he then cried, the energy bursting out, breaking the cage, giving him the opportunity to slither faster than he ever had and tackling Jason, which released her and made her fall to the floor. He thrashed the man around, making explosions with blasts of energy being thrown at him.

Claudia layed there, her body adjusting to being without pain before she lifted her head up. Blood was coming down on her right eye but she was still able to see out of her left one. From what she could see where she was Jake was insanely furious, she could tell just how violent he was to her brother. Though she couldn't see much in the flaring of aura around him; hell she thought she saw a human shape in it but soon her brother was thrown from that shape and landed on the benches.

"Yer goin' straight down to hell from what you've done to her" he said, putting the guy in his coils and started to squeeze him to death.

"J-Jake..." Claudia breathed, trying to get up from her spot

"Don't say anythin' Sunshine, it'll be all over soon" he said, determined eyes on his prey. When he finally started to hear the crunching of bones he threw him against a wall, breathing heavily. He stared at the wall before snorting and turning to where her body was. "Sunshine..." he started to say, his face softening with worry "Are you-" he started to say but something but got interrupted when something ran into him.

"Jake!" she cried, looking over to see a huge black snake tangling with Jake

"_You both have interfered with me for the lasssst time_" it said, the voice and appearance striking a resemblance from the cobra dream she had before. Jake's aura faded and, instead, the cobra was over powering him, crushing and hurting him.

"D-dammit" Claudia said, trying to move but couldn't, it caused her to close her eyes '_What can I do?! Jake is going to die and I'm dead exhausted!_' she thought to herself.

'_Sister_' said another voice, it was Aidualc this time. '_Use the blood of Eve, once you activate it you'll transform and defeat your brother_' she told her. But that was easier said than done since she didn't know how to do that yet; she didn't have time to think though. Jake was going to die soon if she didn't do anything.

* * *

Jake felt his body tightening, and his breath was becoming more shallow as the much larger serpent strangled him. He tried thrashing around but it didn't do anything. Dammit he didn't want to die, not this way and not now when he just found someone to live with, to share his life with.

"C-Clau...dia..." he mumbled as his vision was going black; was this going to be it? Was this going to be the death of the Grim Reaper of the West?! This was so pathetic of him but... what was he supposed to do? His gun was out of ammo and whatever that energy was it was gone now.

"_I don't appreciate you trying to kill my boyfriend, __brother_" A voice said, distorted before a shot of white, green and blue light came in the corner of his eyes. _Hissss_ was the next thing he heard before he saw something white wrap around the cobra's neck.

"_Ack- how the hell..._" he brother stuttered, his muscles loosening around Jake, giving the diamondback room to breathe as well as sink his fangs into him. The cobra screamed in pain before the white figure shifted and threw Jason away from Jake. It gave him time to look up and see a Kingsnake, a female that was pure white aside from the swirl patterns of green and blue going through her body. Her eyes were a pure, slit, blue; something that made him mesmerized.

"Claudia...?" Jake asked, coughing

"_Not now Jake, I still need to finish this_" she said, her power building again, more powerful that before. "_Brother you hurt my friends and the people I love more than I would want them too. I think it's about time to end this and send you to the hell you spawned from_" she said, slithering to him, power almost illuminating the entire building.

"_D-damn you, Claudia_" he said getting up with new flesh wounds that was caused from the contact of her Aura. "_Using the power from the blood of Eve are you?! You're such a cheat since you're the only one who can use it!_" he said, cough and trying to get up to strike.

"_What do you mean?_" she asked plainly

"_Tch, why sssshould I-ack... tell you?_" he asked

"_Because I should know what I can for the power I have_"

"_Well... t-too bad. It's bad enough you inherited talking to animalssss like mysssself. Of coursssse mom and dad didn't know, I kept it to myssssself. But they wouldn't have told me anyway, jusssst like they didn't tell you or Jacob!_" he said. This confused her

"_You're saying I had the power to do this all along?!_"

"_Yessss, of coursssse, idiot. It stayssss hidden within you until your 18th year of life. It'ssss what happened to me, and what happened to you_"

"_And I guess Jacob would have been able to as well once he was old enough_" she asked right when she got to her brother. "_But he won't get that chance because of you, because you KILLED him!_" she cried angrily.

"_Maybe sssso, but you'll be with him sssshortly!_" he replied to her, his power suddenly flaring up. It surprised her, but her power wasn't going to be extinguished that easily and managed to still shine brightly in his darkness. But it wouldn't give up either and the two forces were pushing each other in a standstill of power. Claudia wouldn't give up but neither would Jason and it seemed like they were going to keep at this standstill. But soon the powers became unstable and were causing a friction between; it was only a matter of time. A matter of time until the forces were so saturated they just...

At the climax the darkness and light collide, creating an explosion of love and protection and hate and vengeance.

* * *

**Author: **Well here's the 'ending' chapter of Curse of the Snake Demons I'll be putting the Epilogue up soon I'm sure owo, till then I hope you all don't mind the extra long chapter... since it's the last one (technically) I figured it was going to be a long one. I'm still trying to get better with battle scenes but I think I did pretty well.


	18. Sunshine

Curse of the Snake Demons

Epilogue: Sunshine

**Author: **Oh finally; FINALLY it is done. While it's been a good run I'm proud to say I finally finished this damn thing; now I can go along to the next story, the crossover with SargesGrl12's story Awake and Alive (which you should totally go read, it's amazing)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in Rango but I do own any Oc's and the plot to this fan fiction.

* * *

It was raining now, raining harder than I had ever felt in my life. It was only a few hours ago that the church before me had been destroyed by an explosion, one that was my doing as much as my older brother's. Thankfully everyone survived... everyone but my older brother who perished because the light overcame him. I was able to beat him, but it still didn't get rid of the heavy feeling in my heart.

As I lingered in the shadows, clutching the brown cloak that Jake had given me before I got to the city, the one now keeping my naked body from being exposed, I watched and listened. I could hear sirens and see the police and fire trucks come onto the scene. But I knew that they wouldn't find survivors, since those being inside dead were only those of the dark cult.

"Sunshine..." I heard the person, or creature, next to me say. Rattlesnake Jake, Grim Reaper of the West and infamous outlaw, was there next to me, looking worried as always. I didn't answer him, I just kept staring at the scene before me wondering what was going to happen after this. My family was pretty much all dead and no one knew where I was or just said that I was dead as well. But I knew I couldn't go back as I was before, if people saw me like I was now... they would think of me as either a demon or an idiot person dressing up. I didn't belong to that world anymore.

"Sunshine, c'mon cheer up" he told me, nudging my head lightly and lovingly. I knew he was just doing what he could to get me to, at least, smile, but I couldn't get any particular emotion up at that moment. "It's over now, yer safe and you have me there's nothin' to be sad about" he added. I knew he was right; it was all over and everything that made my life hell was gone. Perhaps it was the time to start over?

Thinking about this for a couple of more minutes I made a decision that would change my lifestyle forever. It caused me to blink at the scene once before turning around and starting to leave the area.

"U-um, Ms. Claudia...?" Rango started to ask as she went past him

"Let's go, we can't do anything here and we certainly don't want the humans to see us or else they'll have a fit" I told them in a monotone voice. Soon the rest of them followed me, Jake staying by my side all the way with the rest closely following. This new life I was getting to was something that wasn't going to be easy but it would be worth it I was sure. Besides with Jake next to me, I was sure I would get used to this life; no matter what was thrown my life.

* * *

"I thought I'd find you up here, Sunshine" Jake said, slithering up from the rock below that we had been sleeping under for most of the night. "What's wrong? Still thinkin' about what happened?" he asked, wrapping himself around me.

"Yea.. it's not something you can get out of your mind even if it's been months since then" I told him. Feeling my, now, white hair with blue and green highlights blowing against my face that was absent of my glasses. I wasn't sure how I could see without them now I mean while I was fighting they did fall off and break but it was really weird not using them. I could only guess that my first transformation into a snake had something to do with it. Maybe the slit eyes I have now made my vision better.

"Well, I'm sure training will get things off yer mind right?" he asked me, rubbing his head against mine. I couldn't help but smile some and rub back.

"Maybe, but you have to be a LITTLE easy on me, Jake. I'm still kind of knew to this thing" I told him. He chuckled darkly, the vibrations of his voice going throughout my body

"Maybe Sunshine, but I can't be too soft, what will the rest of the West think of me when they find out that I'm givin' slake to my mate?" he asked me. I only paused for a minute before answering

"You could just not say anything, it's not like they'll find out about it anytime soon"

"True, but I don't want you walkin' all over me either, I have to remain the dominant one here" he said with a nod. I rolled my eyes and laid against his neck

"Keep thinking that Jake, sooner or later I'm going to be able to kick your ass with both hands behind my back" I replied. I was fairly confident with this though I knew my boyfriend wouldn't like the thought of getting his ass kicked by a girl, even if it was his girlfriend.

"Mmhm, keep thinkin' that Sunshine" he said, nodding his head so slightly before he used his coils to lift me a little and then drag me back under the rock. "Till then I suggest you get yer ass in here and keep me warm, won't survive the night without ya~" he added. His chuckle ringing in my ears, causing my face, as well as the rest of my body, heat up.

"Y-yea fine, whatever helps you sleep at night"

"Oh it does, especially with that tiny body of yers~" I wondered if it was always going to be like this. Him teasing me and whatnot. Though I guess that's what couples do, they tease and nag each other, but in the end they give each other love that no one else is privileged to have. I'm sure it'll be the same for us, hell maybe I would be able to talk to him about his past eventually. But that will be a question for another day... when we're NOT busy training and killing things.

* * *

"Again, she has slipped through my fingers... how long will my Eve avoid me?" he asked, looking at the wineglass with the blood-red liquid within it. He was getting impatient now, for too long he the one who was encompassed with the blood of Eve had eluded him. There would be one with Eve but then she would leave his presence and not appear again until a few dozen generations go by. He was sick of it, sick of not getting what he wanted.

"She thinks she'll get away, that wretched bloodline always getting away from me and my followers because her overwhelming presence in her descendents. Well, my little Eve, you won't be avoiding me long because I know you're out there. And since you have been touched by my magic it won't be long till I find you" he smiled wickedly. How long had he waited for this opportunity? He had lost count of how long he had waited, not that it mattered now.

Getting up from his chair he went over to the window that was next to a dresser, on that dresser was a box. He opened it and a small circlet tiara with a blue stone embedded into the middle laid within it. He picked it up and put it next to the window where the moonlight made the silver glow with a pale and alluring aura to it. It caused him to smile once again, stroking the tiara "One day Eve, one day you will be mine and mine alone once agian".

* * *

**Author: **Alright everyone this is it. This is end of this fan fiction story; I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did and look forward to my other works I might be working on! Don't worry I'll be working on the next installment for this series eventually. I already have a thought on what to get worked on. So until it's up, see you guys then!


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